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Abstract:
In previous research with autistic infants using the
Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (LAB-TAB), we observed
decreased positive emotion relative to normals across facial,
vocal, and physical channels. However, we observed no differences
in negative emotions. To determine whether this result reflected an
insensitivity of the LAB-TAB to detecting negative emotional
responses, we reanalyzed the data using a coding system sensitive
to non-target emotional expression. Data from six 20- to
65-month-old autistic infants and twelve MA-matched normal controls
were analyzed using MANOVA and Resampling Statistics. Results
revealed that in positive tasks, autistic infants exhibited
negative emotion 19% of the time while normal infants exhibited
negative emotion 4% of the time. Autistic subjects exhibited
physical expression of negative emotion significantly more often
than controls. In negative tasks, autistic subjects did not differ
from controls in their expression of positive emotion. With our
analysis of on-target emotional expression, these findings expand
past research indicating that autistic children exhibit negative
emotion more frequently and positive emotion less frequently than
normal children. These results imply that such expressive
differences may be situation-specific and provide insight into the
specific nature of inappropriate emotional responses exhibited by
this population.
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