Julie M. Wolf1, James Tanaka2, Cheryl Klaiman3, Kathleen Koenig1, Jeff Cockburn2, Lauren E. Herlihy1, Carla Brown1, Sherin S. Stahl1, Mikle South, Phd4, James McPartland, PhD1, and Robert T. Schultz, PhD5. (1) Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT 06520, (2) University of Victoria, Canada, (3) Children's Health Council, (4) Psychology and Neuroscience Center, Brigham Young University, 234 TLRB, 1190 North 900 East, Provo, UT 84602, (5) Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market Street, 8th floor, Suite 860, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Background: A large literature suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have deficits in face processing ability. Yet few interventions to remediate these deficits have been developed and evaluated in a randomized clinical trial. We have developed a comprehensive and engaging computer-game intervention (“Let’s Face It!”) that targets face processing skills.
Objectives: The present study investigated whether individuals with ASD demonstrated improvement in their face processing skills following the “Let’s Face It!” intervention.
Methods: Participants with ASD were randomly assigned to either an active treatment group (N=45) or a waitlist control group (N=39). Active treatment involved 20 hours of home-based intervention over a several month period, monitored by parents, and closely supervised by research staff. The outcome measure was the Victoria/Yale Face Processing Battery (VYFPB), which includes measures of face identity (including parts/whole and eye/mouth processing) and expression recognition.
Results: Separate analyses of variance for each of the 11 subtests of the VYFPB were conducted with treatment condition (active, waitlist) and time point (pre-, post-) as independent variables, and total test score as the dependent measure. One subtest, Part-Whole Identity, demonstrated a significant interaction (with Bonferroni adjustment) between treatment condition and time point (p=.002), such that the active treatment group improved to a significantly greater degree than did the waitlist control group. This result held for eye, mouth, and part conditions, and was nearly significant for whole conditions.
Conclusions: “Let’s Face It!” shows promise as an intervention to improve face processing skills in individuals with ASD. This was a fairly low intensity intervention (20 hours total); these results therefore serve as a proof of principle, suggesting that a more intensive intervention might yield more widespread gains. In addition, further research is needed to explore the generalizability of these improvements.