Mental Health Research Seminar - Social perception in children with autism and Asperger Syndrome

Picture by Flashfonic

Mental Health Research Seminar

Social perception in children with autism and Asperger Syndrome

By Steven Stagg,

Psychology Department, Goldsmiths College, University of London

12.30-1.30pm on Tuesday 16 October 2007

Ground Floor Seminar Room, ScHARR, Regent Court,University of Sheffield

Steven holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology (Open University) and a master’s in research methods (London University). He is currently studying for his PhD in the subject of this talk about which he says: “One of the major criteria used to diagnose Autism is impairment in social functioning manifest in lack of eye-contact and diminished interaction with others. Recent eye-tracking studies have proved inconclusive in confirming this, showing both a preference for human figures over objects in children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (van der Geest, Kemner, Camfferman, Verbaten, & van Engeland, 2002) and abnormal attention to social stimuli (Klin, Jones, Schultz, Volkmar, & Cohen, 2002). This talk centres on a recent study carried out towards my PhD to see if children with ASD show normal patterns of eye-movement when faced with a complex choice of social stimuli and whether children diagnosed with High Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome show equivalent performance.”