2185-6974

AA12461491

4774160

査読有

This study aimed to examine the understanding of forced smiles in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The forced smile is defined as the laughter intentionally reaction with the superficial smile not to depend on natural feelings to be funny expressed. We recruited 26 (10 with ASD and 16 with neurotypical development [ND]) participants who were asked to define forced smiles, rate Kikuchi’s Scale of Social Skills, and distinguish the forced smiles from 28 images of natural laughter and 28 images of forced smiles on a PC. As each participant viewed these images, their gaze movement was measured via an integrated eye tracker (Tobii Pro X3-120). The results indicated that the definition of the forced smile was the same between the two groups. The ND group correctly distinguished more of the forced smile images compared with the ASD group. We found a positive correlation between social skill scores and correct forced smile distinction scores in the ND group. The ND group also recorded a significantly longer visual fixation at the left eye compared with the ASD group. Meanwhile, we found differences in the eye movement, length of visual fixation, and fixation count between low- and high-score cases in the ASD group. We discussed the understanding of forced smiles with respect to the concepts of propositional/intuitive mentalizing and weak central coherence.

基礎研究