Abstract
Different styles of social interaction are one of the core characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social differences among individuals with ASD often include difficulty in discerning the emotions of neurotypical people based on their facial expressions. This review first covers the rich body of literature studying differences in facial emotion recognition (FER) in those with ASD, including behavioral studies and neurological findings. In particular, we highlight subtle emotion recognition and various factors related to inconsistent findings in behavioral studies of FER in ASD. Then, we discuss the dual problem of FER – namely facial emotion expression (FEE) or the production of facial expressions of emotion. Despite being less studied, social interaction involves both the ability to recognize emotions and to produce appropriate facial expressions. How others perceive facial expressions of emotion in those with ASD has remained an under-researched area. Finally, we propose a method for teaching FER [FER teaching hierarchy (FERTH)] based on recent research investigating FER in ASD, considering the use of posed vs. genuine emotions and static vs. dynamic stimuli. We also propose two possible teaching approaches: (1) a standard method of teaching progressively from simple drawings and cartoon characters to more complex audio-visual video clips of genuine human expressions of emotion with context clues or (2) teaching in a field of images that includes posed and genuine emotions to improve generalizability before progressing to more complex audio-visual stimuli. Lastly, we advocate for autism interventionists to use FER stimuli developed primarily for research purposes to facilitate the incorporation of well-controlled stimuli to teach FER and bridge the gap between intervention and research in this area.
Highlights
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty interpreting and regulating their own emotions, understanding the emotions expressed by others, and labeling emotions based on viewing the faces of others (Harms et al, 2010; Uljarevic and Hamilton, 2013; Sheppard et al, 2016)
Research investigating facial emotion recognition (FER) in ASD has primarily utilized static images composed of posed facial expressions (Pelphrey et al, 2007; Monk et al, 2010); more recent research has begun exploring the use of dynamic video with actors making posed facial expressions (Golan et al, 2015; Fridenson-Hayo et al, 2016; Simões et al, 2018)
Few studies have utilized face stimuli of humans expressing genuine, spontaneous expressions of emotion, whether static or dynamic (Cassidy et al, 2014). This distinction is important because research has shown that the human brain, and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, process posed facial expressions differently compared to how spontaneous expressions of emotion are processed (Hess et al, 1989; Schmidt et al, 2006; Wang et al, 2015; Park et al, 2020)
Summary
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty interpreting and regulating their own emotions, understanding the emotions expressed by others, and labeling emotions based on viewing the faces of others (Harms et al, 2010; Uljarevic and Hamilton, 2013; Sheppard et al, 2016). We will discuss some recent research investigating how individuals with ASD differ from controls when asked to produce posed facial expressions of emotion and review the latest advances in the field of posed vs spontaneous/genuine facial expressions and implications into autism research in terms of both perception and production of genuine facial expressions. Based on these findings, we propose a method of teaching FER for individuals with ASD
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
