Using Computer Software to Address Emotion Recognition and Social Skills

Background: Recognizing others' emotions and mental states is key to social interaction. This ability to “mind read” has been found to be impaired in many individuals with ASD (Baron-Cohen, 1995, 2003). Various computer programs have been used to teach emotion/social skills (Moore et al., 2005; Silver & Oakes, 2001). One such program, Mind Reading: The Interactive Guide to Emotions (Baron-Cohen et al., 2004), has been used with adults (Golan & Baron-Cohen, 2006) and children with ASD (LaCava et al., 2007) to improve face and voice emotion recognition. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to investigate the use of the Mind Reading software to improve social/emotional skills for students with ASD in school settings. Methods: Study 1 was a multiple baseline across 3 participants (mean age=10.66) design used to investigate if Mind Reading use would improve emotion recognition skills and social behavior. Computerized emotion recognition testing was also conducted pre and post intervention. The two girls and one boy independently used Mind Reading in a school setting for 10 weeks (M=8.78 hours). Observations (using interval recording) of social interaction were made during baseline and intervention phases in the school setting. Study 2 was a replication of Study 1. The same design and procedures were followed except that the four male students (mean age=8.5 years) used Mind Reading with an adult tutor for 7 to 10 weeks (M=12.5 hours). Results: Each participant in both studies improved on at least two emotion recognition tests as well as increased positive social interaction and/or decreased negative social interaction in natural settings. Emotion recognition improvements in Study 2 were greater than Study 1. Anecdotal reports from parents, students, and school personnel support the use of Mind Reading in helping individuals to increase social interactions, use emotion vocabulary and improve emotion recognition. Conclusions: Use of the software was associated with gains in emotion recognition skills. Mind Reading use with an adult tutor brought about the greatest changes from pre to post testing. Observations of social behavior in natural settings revealed increases in positive or decreases in negative social interaction but the evidence was not strong enough to claim a causal relationship between use of the software and observed behavior change. Future research is merited to continue exploring the use of this and other technology with co-occurring interventions as a means to improve emotion recognition and social behavior.