Emotion Facial Processing in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study of the Impact of Service Dogs

Frontiers in Psychology

Nathalie M. G. Fontaine¹  Pierrich Plusquellec¹  Anthony Hosein Poitras Loewen²  Dave Saint-Amour²  Nathe François⁴  Noël Champagne⁴  Nicolas Dollion⁴  Marine Grandgeorge⁷ 

[1] Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur le Cerveau et l’Apprentissage, University of Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada;Department of Psychology, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience Cognitives, NeuroQAM, Université du Quebec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada;Laboratoire d’Observation et d’Éthologie Humaine du Québec, Montréal Mental Health University Institute, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal (CIUSSS Est), Montréal, QC, Canada;Mira Foundation Inc., Sainte-Madeleine, QC, Canada;School of Criminology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada;School of Psychoeducation, University of Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada;Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ., CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie Animale et Humaine) – UMR 6552, Rennes, France;

关键词: autism spectrum disorder (ASD);    facial expression processing;    eye-tracking;    service dog;    emotion recognition;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2022.869452

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Processing and recognizing facial expressions are key factors in human social interaction. Past research suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present difficulties to decode facial expressions. Those difficulties are notably attributed to altered strategies in the visual scanning of expressive faces. Numerous studies have demonstrated the multiple benefits of exposure to pet dogs and service dogs on the interaction skills and psychosocial development of children with ASD. However, no study has investigated if those benefits also extend to the processing of facial expressions. The aim of this study was to investigate if having a service dog had an influence on facial expression processing skills of children with ASD. Two groups of 15 children with ASD, with and without a service dog, were compared using a facial expression recognition computer task while their ocular movements were measured using an eye-tracker. While the two groups did not differ in their accuracy and reaction time, results highlighted that children with ASD owning a service dog directed less attention toward areas that were not relevant to facial expression processing. They also displayed a more differentiated scanning of relevant facial features according to the displayed emotion (i.e., they spent more time on the mouth for joy than for anger, and vice versa for the eyes area). Results from the present study suggest that having a service dog and interacting with it on a daily basis may promote the development of specific visual exploration strategies for the processing of human faces.

【 授权许可】

Unknown