Relationship between gestalt processing and affect recognition : comparing youths with and without autism

• Main Author: Khoo, Ser Wee
• Other Authors: Chen Shen-Hsing Annabel
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/62604
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study investigated the relationship between gestalt processing and affect recognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder. In an effort to understand poor affect recognition in autism, the gestalt processing of youths with autism was compared to typically developing individuals. It was expected that individuals with autism have weak gestalt processing and a local processing bias. 29 male participants (14 autism, 15 typically developing) aged 13 to 16 years old participated in the study. Participants completed the affect recognition subtest in the Neuro-Psychological Assessment (NEPSY-II), the figure ground and visual closure subtests in the third edition of Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS-III), as well as a novel computerized task that comprised of intact and scrambled scene stimuli to assess participants’ gestalt processing ability. Participants with autism had significantly poorer affect recognition than typically developing participants. They had comparable gestalt processing ability to typically developing participants on the visual closure subtest but performed significantly worse on the intact scene stimuli in the computerized task. Nonetheless, a positive relationship was found between participants’ gestalt processing ability on the computerized task and their affect recognition. Both groups did not differ on their local processing as they had similar figure ground and scrambled stimuli scores. The findings did not fully support the weak central coherence theory, suggesting that the relationship between gestalt processing and affect recognition is less straightforward. While it is plausible that poor gestalt processing may underlie poor affect recognition, there is a need to consider the meaningfulness of the gestalt task used.