BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS OF ATTENTION TO EMOTIONS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Abstract

The article deals with behavioral indicators of attention to emotions and relevant expression during multiple video views (cartoons) of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurotypical development. Quantitative and qualitative typical behavioral indicators are highlighted. Qualitative indicators are integrated into communicative, interactive, and self-regulatory determinants. It was found that the group of children with ASD tended to improve the majority of indicators in all three determinants at the second revision. Whereas in the group of children with neurotypical development the highest indices were observed at the first revision. This tendency may be of practical importance for the effectiveness of social and emotional learning of children with ASD since it suggests the optimal number of repetitions of emotional stimuli. The following assumption is made that the effect of habituation in children with ASD starts later than in children with neurotypical development.