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Visual Processing and Autism Spectrum Disorders (1)
- 1. VISUAL PROCESSING AND AUTISMSPECTRUM DISORDERS A PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS WHO WORK WITH CHILDREN IN THE AUTISM COMMUNITY
- 2. CONFIGURATIONAL SYSTEM PROCESSING BELIEVEDTO BE SPECIALIZED SYSTEM FOR THE BRAIN IN RECOGNIZING LARGER CONFIGURATIONS AND FACES (STERNBERG & STERNBERG, 2012). • NOT FOR ANALYZING INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS • ENCOMPASSES FACIAL RECOGNITION • FACIAL RECOGNITION FOR THE MOST PART OCCURS IN THE FUSIFORM GYRUS
- 3. FEATURE ANALYSIS SYSTEM BELIEVEDTO BE HOW THE BRAIN RECOGNIZES SEPARATE PARTS AND ASSEMBLES THEM INTO WHOLE OBJECTS (STERNBERG & STERNBERG, 2012). THIS SYSTEM ALSO ALLOWS THE DISTINGUISHING OF A TARGET ELEMENT FROM DISTRACTORS, (TREISMAN, A. & GORMICAN, S., 1988). • EXAMINES DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF THE WHOLE • SOMEWHAT USEFUL IN FACIAL RECOGNITION • DISTINGUISHES TARGET ELEMENTS-VISUAL SEARCH
- 4. THE OCCIPITAL LOBE.(IMAGE RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://WWW.CHP.EDU/OUR- SERVICES/BRAIN/NEUROLOGY/EPILEPSY/TYPES/SYNDROMES/BENIGN-OCCIPITAL-EPILEPSY)
- 5. THE FUSIFORM GYRUS(IMAGE RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://WHITE.STANFORD.EDU/TEACH/INDEX.PHP/NEUROPHYSIOLOGY_OF_FACE_PERCEPTION_AN D_SOCIAL_INFORMATION_PROCESSING)
- 6. WHY IS THISIMPORTANT? (IMAGE RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://FEWPICT.COM/CAT/16/QUESTION-MARK-02.HTML)
- 7. CONFIGURATIONAL SYSTEM PROCESSING- AUTISMSPECTRUM DISORDERS • WAS BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE WITH AUTISM HAD A SOCIAL FUNCTIONING IMPAIRMENT WHICH LED TO DIFFICULTY RECOGNIZING FACES (BEHRMANN, THOMAS, & HUMPHREYS, 2006) • NEW THEORY EMERGED SUGGESTING THE IMPAIRMENT WAS IN VISUAL-PERCEPTUAL PROCESSING (BEHRMANN, THOMAS, & HUMPHREYS, 2006) • FMRI FOUND EVIDENCE SHOWING FACIAL PROCESSING OCCURS OUTSIDE THE FUSIFORM GYRUS (PIERCE, MUELLER, AMBROSE, ALLEN & COURCHESNE, 2001)
- 8. IMAGES SHOWING THEDIFFERENCE FACIAL PROCESSING SITES IN A “NORMAL” BRAIN AND THAT OF SOMEONE WITH AUTISM(IMAGE RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://NEWS.HOFSTRA.EDU/2015/03/18/EMOTIONAL-FACE-PROCESSING-IN-AUTISM-ASSOCIATED-WITH- BRAIN-FUNCTION-DIFFERENCES/)
- 9. FEATURE ANALYSIS SYSTEM-AUTISM SPECTRUMDISORDER O’RIORDAN, PLAISTED, DRIVER AND BARON-COHEN (2001), REPORT CHILDREN WITH AUTISM HAVE SUPERIOR VISUAL SEARCH SKILLS. • CHILDREN WITH AUTISM PERFORMED BETTER THAN NORMALLY DEVELOPING CHILDREN ON DIFFICULT VISUAL SEARCH • ENHANCED UNIQUE ITEM DETECTION IN AUTISM
- 10. BENEFITS OF VIDEOGAMES FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SEVERAL BENEFITS WERE FOUND IN UTILIZING VIDEO GAMES AS EDUCATIONAL AIDS FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM (DURKIN, K, 2010). • STRONG ENTHUSIASM FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM FOR PLAYING • STRONG ATTRACTION FOR SCREEN-BASED ENTERTAINMENT • HELPS THEM TO RELATE TO WORLD AND OTHERS • VIDEO GAMES CALL FOR HIGH ATTENTION AND VISUAL SEARCH SKILLS, CHILDREN WITH AUTISM EXCEL AT VISUAL SEARCH • SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY EMOTIONS PRESENTED BY AVATARS, SOMETHING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM STRUGGLE WITH • LEARNED MORE WORDS FROM COMPUTERIZED DELIVERY SYSTEM
- 11. THE END. (IMAGERETRIEVED FROM HTTP://CLIVEPRICE.ME/RESEARCH-ON-VIDEO- GAMES-AND-CHILDREN/)
- 12. REFERENCES BEHRMANN, M., THOMAS,C., & HUMPHREYS, K. (2006). SEEING IT DIFFERENTLY: VISUAL PROCESSING IN AUTISM. TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES, 10(6), 258-264. ABSTRACT RETRIEVED FROM: HTTP://WWW.SCIENCEDIRECT.COM/SCIENCE/ARTICLE/PII/S1364661306001070 DE JONG, M.V., KEMNER, C., DE HAAN, E.H., COOPENS, J.E., VAN DEN BERG, T.J.T.P., & VAN ENGELAND, H. (2007). VISUAL INFORMATION PROCESSING IN HIGH-FUNCTIONING INDIVIDUALS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS AND THEIR PARENTS. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, 21(1), 65-73. DOI: . HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.1037/0894-4105.21.1.65 DURKIN, K. (2010). VIDEO GAMES AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS. REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY, 14(2), 122-140. DOI: HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.1037/A0019438 O’RIORDAN, M.A., PLAISTED, K.C., DRIVER, J., & BARON-COHEN, S. (2001). SUPERIOR VISUAL SEARCHING IN AUTISM. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: HUMAN PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE, 27(3), 719-730. DOI: HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.1037/0096-1523.27.3.719
- 13. PIERCE, K., MUELLER,R.A., AMBROSE, J., ALLEN, G., & COURCHESNE, E. (2001). FACE PROCESSING OCCURS OUTSIDE THE FUSIFORM ‘FACE AREA’ IN AUTISM: EVIDENCE FROM FUNCTIONAL MRI. BRAIN A JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, 2059-2073. DOI: HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.1093/BRAIN/124.10.2059 STERNBERG, R.J. & STERNBERG, K. (2012). COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY (6TH ED.). BELMONT, CA: WADSWORTH. TREISMAN, A., & GORMICAN, S. (1988). FEATURE ANALYSIS IN EARLY VISION: EVIDENCE FROM SEARCH ASYMMETRIES. PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW, 95(1), 15-48. DOI: . HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.1037/0033-295X.95.1.15
Editor's Notes
- #2 Greetings ladies and gentlemen. We are here today to discuss two theories in cognitive visual perception and how they relate to children with autism. The two theories we will explore are feature analysis system and configurational system. Since it is believed these systems take place in the occipital lobe they present special considerations when dealing with the autism community. Our goals are to understand what these systems accomplish under normal circumstances; how they function differently in the brain of someone with autism; and examine the use of video games as a tool to help children with autism cope with the differences.
- #3 The configurational system is believed to specialize in recognizing larger configurations and faces. This system is not well-equipped to recognize the different elements of an overall configuration or pattern. The configurational system is most important is recognizing faces, a task which presents special challenges to individuals with autism. We are so dependent on this system to recognize the people who we see everyday that we may overlook a distinct change in someone’s appearance. Facial recognition for the most part takes place in the fusiform gyrus of the temporal lobe. We will see an image of the fusiform gyrus shortly.
- #4 The feature analysis system is like the other side of the coin in regards to the configurational system. This system allows us to recognize parts of the whole, or the individual elements which may up a larger object, pattern or face. Feature analysis is useful in facial recognition, but to a lesser degree. It allows us to examine different features of the face before making a final judgement or determination on the face, i.e. is this someone we know but do not recognize immediately. Research has found that people have an easier recognizing the separate elements of an object and being able to determine what object the elements belong to. This system also the brain to pick out a target element in a visual plain of distractors.
- #5 This is an image of the occipital lobe. This is the area of the brain responsible for visual processing.
- #6 This is an image of the fusiform gyrus in a brain scan from different orientations. The fusiform gyrus is highly active when we examine faces, but not when we examine other objects. Activity and function of the fusiform gyrus is so important because from infancy we are fascinated with faces. Babies stare intently at the faces of caregivers and will track a picture of a face much more readily then a picture of some other object or pattern.
- #7 You may be wondering at this point why any of this is important. As I stated in the introduction one of the goals is to understand how the configurational system and feature analysis system work under normal circumstances in order to understand what is different about the brain of someone with autism.
- #8 At one time researchers believed people with autism experienced a social functioning impairment in the brain, and this in turn led to their difficulties in processing/recognizing faces. Another theory emerged which claimed facial processing impairments in the brain of someone with autism were visual-perceptual in nature, and that the social impairment was more of a symptom, not a cause. More recent researched has helped to confirm the visual-perceptual hypothesis. Pierce, Mueller, Ambrose, Allen and Courchesne reported in 2001 that fMRI data shows facial processing and recognition in the brain of someone with autism takes place outside of the fusiform gyrus.
- #9 The above image shows the different activated areas of a neurotypical person with that of someone with autism when processing and recognizing faces. As the last image on the bottom right shows there is a large difference in the areas of the brain which are activated. As we learned from a previous slide the typical processing site in the fusiform gyrus is in the bottom right part of the brain. As the final image above shows, in the brain of someone with autism the facial processing takes place higher up along the center of the brain in the parietal lobe. Pierce et. al (2001) state that understanding facial processing in the brain of someone with autism is not only important for understanding the social deficits which come from this disorder, but gives researchers a chance to understand experiential factors related to normal face processing.
- #10 An interesting study by O’Riordan, Plaisted, Driver and Baron-Cohen in 2001 found results which provide evidence of superior visual search skills in children with autism. In matched-group trials in two separate experiments children with autism out performed their peers who were normally-developed. The result was found to occur regardless of whether their was a test using a single feature or a conjunction of features. The brain of a child with autism is simply wired a little differently then that of a neurotypical child. Like all children, these children have their own special abilities and cognitive obstacles. The enhanced visual search abilities is going to be important when we discuss the use of educational video games as a tool to help children with autism in the classroom.
- #11 Several benefits were found for children with autism when video games were introduced as instructional tools in the classroom. First of children with autism love to play video games just as much as their typical peers, they engage easily with the medium, not only for video games but virtual reality displays. Video games help children with autism relate to the world and people around them more easily. Given the impairment in visual perceptive processing of faces, children with autism suffer socially. Any method which helps them relate better with world they may feel isolated from should be examined and implemented if the methods and effects are positive. Video games play to the visual search strengths of children with autism. Implementing this tool in the classroom can boost self-esteem and increase engagement. Children showed high levels of achievement in recognizing the emotions on video game avatars, video games can address this area of visual processing which children with autism frequently struggle with. Lastly children with autism were more attentive to and learned more words from a computerized vocabulary delivery system, then when a teacher delivered the same material. While this is not directly related to the visual perceptual processing of children with autism this is further evidence of the usefulness of video games as an educational aid.
- #12 This concludes the presentation. Thank you for your time and I hope you have gained some new knowledge and ideas about to better help the children you work with.