How the Realism of Robot Is Needed for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders in an Interview Setting.

The preliminary efficacy of interview training using an android robot whose appearance and movements resemble those of an actual human for treating social and communication difficulties in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been demonstrated. Patient preferences regarding the appearance of robots are crucial for incentivizing them to undergo robot-assisted therapy. However, very little is known about how the realistic nature of an android robot is related to incentivizing individuals with ASD in an interview setting. In this study, individuals with ASD underwent an interview with a human interviewer and an android robot. Twenty-three individuals with ASD (age, 17-25 years) participated in this study. After the interview, the participants were evaluated in terms of their motivation to practice an interview with an android robot and their impression of the nature of the android robot in terms of humanness. As expected, subjects exhibited higher motivation to undergo interview training with an android robot than with a human interviewer. Higher motivation to undergo an interview with the android robot was negatively correlated with the participants' impressions of the extent to which the android robot exhibited humanness. This study brings us one step closer to understanding how such an android robot should be designed and implemented to provide sufficiently realistic interview training that can be of therapeutic value.

Relaxing Gaze Aversion of Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder in Consecutive Conversations With Human and Android Robot-A Preliminary Study.

Establishing a treatment method for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) not only to increase their frequency or duration of eye contact but also to maintain it after ceasing the intervention, and furthermore generalize it across communication partners, is a formidable challenge. Android robots, which are a type of humanoid robot with appearances quite similar to that of humans, are expected to adapt to the role of training partners of face-to-face communication for individuals with ASD and to create easier experiences transferrable to humans. To evaluate this possibility, four male adolescents with ASD and six without ASD were asked to participate a pilot experiment in which there were consecutive sessions of semistructured conversation where they alternately faced either a human female or a female-type android robot interlocutor five times in total. Although it is limited by the small sample size, the preliminary results of analysis of their fixation pattern during the conversations indicated positive signs; the subjects tended to look more at the face of the android robot than that of the human interlocutor regardless of whether they had ASD. However, the individuals with ASD looked more at the area around the eyes of the android robot than at the human, and also looked less at that of the human than the individuals without ASD did. An increasing tendency of looking at the area around the human eyes, which could be a positive sign of the transferability of the experiences with an android robot to a human interlocutor, was only weakly observed as the sessions progressed.

Brief Report: Olfactory Adaptation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Olfactory adaptation is an important process that allows the individual to adjust to changes in the environment. This process has been proposed to be aberrant in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, few studies have examined olfactory adaptation in children with ASD. We examined olfactory adaptation in children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children using a pulse ejection system, which resolved problems associated with previous laboratory-based olfactory psychophysical studies. Nine children with ASD and nine TD children participated in this study and all participants completed the entire experiment. Using this system, we found that the TD group showed greater adaptation than the ASD group. Our results provide a better understanding of olfactory adaptation in children with ASD.

Relationship Between Odor Identification and Visual Distractors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Understanding the nature of olfactory abnormalities is crucial for optimal interventions in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, previous studies that have investigated odor identification in children with ASD have produced inconsistent results. The ability to correctly identify an odor relies heavily on visual inputs in the general population. We tested odor identification in eight children with ASD and eight age-matched children with typical development (TD). After confirming that all children were able to identify each odor without visual input, we measured odor identification under the visual-distractor condition. Odor identification was hindered by visual distractors for all children with ASD but was not affected in all children with TD. Our results improve understanding of odor identification in ASD.

A pilot study for robot appearance preferences among high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorder: Implications for therapeutic use.

Recent rapid technological advances have enabled robots to fulfill a variety of human-like functions, leading researchers to propose the use of such technology for the development and subsequent validation of interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although a variety of robots have been proposed as possible therapeutic tools, the physical appearances of humanoid robots currently used in therapy with these patients are highly varied. Very little is known about how these varied designs are experienced by individuals with ASD. In this study, we systematically evaluated preferences regarding robot appearance in a group of 16 individuals with ASD (ages 10-17). Our data suggest that there may be important differences in preference for different types of robots that vary according to interaction type for individuals with ASD. Specifically, within our pilot sample, children with higher-levels of reported ASD symptomatology reported a preference for specific humanoid robots to those perceived as more mechanical or mascot-like. The findings of this pilot study suggest that preferences and reactions to robotic interactions may vary tremendously across individuals with ASD. Future work should evaluate how such differences may be systematically measured and potentially harnessed to facilitate meaningful interactive and intervention paradigms.

Assessment of olfactory detection thresholds in children with autism spectrum disorders using a pulse ejection system.

BACKGROUND: Atypical responsiveness to olfactory stimuli has been reported as the strongest predictor of social impairment in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, previous laboratory-based sensory psychophysical studies that have aimed to investigate olfactory sensitivity in children with ASD have produced inconsistent results. The methodology of these studies is limited by several factors, and more sophisticated approaches are required to produce consistent results. METHODS: We measured olfactory detection thresholds in children with ASD and typical development (TD) using a pulse ejection system-a newly developed methodology designed to resolve problems encountered in previous studies. The two odorants used as stimuli were isoamyl acetate and allyl caproate. RESULTS: Forty-three participants took part in this study: 23 (6 females, 17 males) children with ASD and 20 with TD (6 females, 14 males). Olfactory detection thresholds of children with ASD were significantly higher than those of TD children with both isoamyl acetate (2.85 ± 0.28 vs 1.57 ± 0.15; p < 0.001) and allyl caproate ( 3.30 ± 0.23 vs 1.17 ± 0.08; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We found impaired olfactory detection thresholds in children with ASD. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the olfactory abnormalities that children with ASD experience. Considering the role and effect that odors play in our daily lives, insensitivity to some odorants might have a tremendous impact on children with ASD. Future studies of olfactory processing in ASD may reveal important links between brain function, clinically relevant behavior, and treatment.

Spatio-temporal processing of tactile stimuli in autistic children.

Altered multisensory integration has been reported in autism; however, little is known concerning how the autistic brain processes spatio-temporal information concerning tactile stimuli. We report a study in which a crossed-hands illusion was investigated in autistic children. Neurotypical individuals often experience a subjective reversal of temporal order judgments when their hands are stimulated while crossed, and the illusion is known to be acquired in early childhood. However, under those conditions where the somatotopic representation is given priority over the actual spatial location of the hands, such reversals may not occur. Here, we showed that a significantly smaller illusory reversal was demonstrated in autistic children than in neurotypical children. Furthermore, in an additional experiment, the young boys who had higher Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores generally showed a smaller crossed hands deficit. These results suggest that rudimentary spatio-temporal processing of tactile stimuli exists in autistic children, and the altered processing may interfere with the development of an external frame of reference in real-life situations.

[Clinical features of girls with Asperger disorders].

OBJECTIVES: Symptoms of Asperger disorder (AD) in girls are often different from those in boys. In this study, the characteristics of girls with AD were examined. METHODS: We retrospectively examined the records of 63 boys and 33 girls with AD. We evaluated the age, main problems, complications, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (3rd Ed) scores. RESULTS: About 73% of girls were diagnosed with AD between 10 and 15 years of age, and they had physical complications or problems in the autonomic nervous system. Girls scored significantly lower in Mathematics score, and Block Design score than boys. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that there are differences in the AD symptoms exhibited by boys and girls. Further research is required to clarify the behavioral, neurological, and genetic links to these gender differences. In order to prevent secondary complications, it is necessary to establish specific diagnostic criteria for girls with AD.

Learning efficacy of explicit visuomotor sequences in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and Asperger syndrome.

Developmental disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Asperger syndrome (AS) are often associated with learning disabilities. This study investigated the explicit learning of visuomotor sequences in 17 ADHD children (mean age 12.1), 21 AS children (mean age 12.7), and 15 typically developing children (mean age: 12.3). The participants were required to explore a hidden sequence of button presses by trial and error and elaborate the learned sequence (2 x 10 task: Hikosaka et al. 1996). The results indicated that although ADHD and AS children had a tendency of repeating the same errors and took longer to complete a sequence, both showed a degree and pattern of improvement in accuracy and speed similar to that of typically developing children. These results suggest that the explicit learning of visuomotor sequence in ADHD and AS patients is largely unimpaired.