Nagai M.（永井聖剛）, Bennett, P. J., Rutherford, M. D., Gaspar, C. M., Kumada, T., Sekuler A. B. (2013). Comparing face processing strategies between typically-developed observers and observers with autism using sub-sampled-pixels presentation in response classification technique. Vision Research, 79, 27-35. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2013.01.001
In the present study we modified the standard classification image method bysubsampling visual stimuli to provide us with a technique capable of examining an individual’s face-processing strategy in detail with fewer trials. Experiment 1 confirmed that one testing session (1450 trials) was sufficient to produce classification images that were qualitatively similar to those obtained previously with 10,000 trials (Sekuler et al., 2004). Experiment 2 used this method to compare classification images obtained from observers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and typically-developing (TD) observers. As was found in Experiment 1, classification images obtained from TD observers suggested that they all discriminated faces based on information conveyed by pixels in the eyes/brow region. In contrast, classification images obtained from ASD observers suggested that they used different perceptual strategies: three out of five ASD observers used a typical strategy of making use of information in the eye/brow region, but two used an atypical strategy that relied on information in the forehead region. The advantage of using the response classification technique is that there is no restriction to specific theoretical perspectives or a priori hypotheses, which enabled us to see unexpected strategies, like ASD’s forehead strategy, and thus showed this technique is particularly useful in the examination of special populations.
Classification imageという最新の心理物理手法を用いて，自閉症者の顔認知にかかわる個人とストラテジーを探索的にかつ高解像度で可視化した。その結果，従来研究からは予想外の自閉症者特有のストラテジーを発見（額の利用）し，加えて，一部の自閉症者は定型発達者と同様ストラテジーを示すことを見出した。