Science of Emotion and Sensibility (감성과학)

Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility (한국감성과학회)
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Attentional Bias toward Angry Faces in Typically Developing Children and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

정상 발달 아동과 자폐 스펙트럼 장애 아동의 분노 표정에 대한 주의 편향

  • Yunmin Choi ;
  • So-Yeon Kim
  • 최윤민 (덕성여자대학교 일반대학원 인지 발달 및 발달장애 심리학과) ;
  • 김소연 (덕성여자대학교 심리학과)
  • Received : 2024.08.25
  • Accepted : 2024.09.10
  • Published : 2024.09.30
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Abstract

This study aimed to assess the attentional bias toward angry faces in typically developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A continuous performance task was employed, where a distractor appeared as a target letter ("T") and changed direction every 1,250 ms. Longer reaction times to the target in the presence of a distractor, compared to its absence, were considered as evidence of attentional bias toward the distractor. The task assessed the attentional bias toward angry faces in 14 boys with ASD and 17 TD boys, aged 6-12 years. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted on reaction times with emotion, time, and group as independent variables. The three-way interaction effect approached significance. Group-specific analyses revealed that TD children exhibited significant attentional capture when angry faces first appeared, whereas those with ASD did not. Accuracy analysis revealed no significant differences between the groups, with both groups maintaining >85% accuracy, confirming the task's suitability for school-aged children. The absence of attentional bias toward angry faces in children with ASD indicates that these faces may not be perceived as particularly salient for children with ASD. These findings denote that interventions encouraging top-down processing of emotional cues, such as angry faces, may support the development of adaptive social skills in children with ASD.

본 연구의 목적은 학령기 정상 발달 아동과 자폐 스펙트럼 장애 아동을 대상으로 분노 얼굴에 대한 주의 편향 양상을 확인하는 것이었다. 이를 위해 6-12세의 자폐 스펙트럼 장애 남아 14명과 정상 발달 남아 17명을 대상으로 분노 얼굴에 대한 주의 편향을 연속수행과제 패러다임을 사용하여 탐구하였다. 연속수행과제에서는 갑자기 방해 자극이 나타났을 때 목표 자극에 대한 반응시간이 방해 자극이 없을 때보다 더 긴 경우, 방해 자극에 주의가 편향된 것으로 정의한다. 정서, 시간, 집단을 독립변인으로 하여 반응시간에 대한 반복측정 분산분석을 실시한 결과, 삼원 상호작용 효과가 유의한 경향성을 나타냈다. 집단별 반복측정 분산분석에서, 정상 발달 아동은 분노 얼굴이 나타났을 때 유의미한 주의 획득 양상을 보였으나, 자폐 스펙트럼 장애 아동은 얼굴에 대한 주의 획득 효과를 보이지 않았다. 정확도 분석 결과, 집단 간 유의미한 차이는 없었으며, 두 집단 모두 85% 이상의 정확도를 나타내어 본 과제가 학령기 아동에게 적합함을 확인하였다. 자폐 스펙트럼 장애 아동이 주의 편향을 나타내지 않은 결과는 이들에게 분노 얼굴이 사회적 현저성을 갖지 않는 자극으로 해석될 수 있음을 시사한다. 따라서, 자폐 스펙트럼 장애 아동의 적응적인 사회 기술을 돕기 위해 분노 얼굴과 같은 정서적 단서에 대한 하향식 처리 과정을 유도하는 개입법을 고려할 수 있을 것이다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 연구는 2023년도 덕성여자대학교 교내연구비 지원으로 이루어졌음.

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