Integrating identity and emotion information in faces in ASD – capacity limits of information processing

The ability to combine identity and emotional information when viewing faces allows typically developing individuals to process facial information efficiently. The purpose of this study was to examine whether adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) share this ability, and test if it reflects a broader pattern of integrative information processing. Nineteen adults with ASD and nineteen typically developing adults completed a divided attention task where they had to indicate when a target was present. Each participant completed two separate experiments: i) the face experiment, which required detecting targets based on identity and emotional expression; and ii) the object experiment, which required detecting targets based on colour and shape. Analyses assessed whether, and how, participants responded more efficiently in the presence of both targets, compared to either single target. By employing mathematical modelling tools developed in the System Factorial Technology (SFT) framework, results showed that ASD individuals process faces at the rate of control individuals, however, failed to exhibit integrative properties. Contrary to controls, adults with ASD showed limited capacity to engage in integrative processing, even for object attributes, suggesting a domain-general integrative processing difficulty. Implications of these findings generalise to personalisation practices in education and can be used to inform the development of assistive technologies in ASD.