Computer-Assisted Face Processing Instruction Improves Emotion Recognition, Mentalizing, and Social Skills in...

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Computer-Assisted Instruction

Background:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents challenges in social-emotional functioning.
• Social skills deficits impact daily life and learning for children with ASD.
• Targeting core deficits like face processing may yield broader improvements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-based social skills intervention, FaceSay.
• To assess improvements in affect recognition, mentalizing, and social skills in children with ASD.
• To determine if targeting face-processing skills leads to wider cognitive and social gains.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial was conducted with school-aged children diagnosed with ASD (N=31).
• Participants received the FaceSay intervention, focusing on simulated practice of eye gaze, joint attention, and facial recognition.
• Pre- and post-intervention assessments measured affect recognition, mentalizing, and social skills.

Main Results:

• Children who used FaceSay demonstrated significant improvements in affect recognition.
• Participants showed enhanced mentalizing abilities after the intervention.
• Overall social skills also showed notable improvement in the intervention group.

Conclusions:

• Computer-based interventions like FaceSay can effectively improve social skills in children with ASD.
• Targeting face-processing skills appears to generalize to broader cognitive and social domains.
• FaceSay offers a potentially cost- and time-efficient method for social skills development in ASD.