| The individuals with autistic traits are general individuals,who exhibit persistent social communication difficulties,social interaction difficulties and repetitive stereotyped cognitive style in many situations.The mind-blindness hypothesis and the intense world theory explain the empathy deficits in autistic individuals from two different perspectives.The mind-blindness hypothesis holds that the individuals with autistic traits are difficult to understand other people’s emotions and thoughts,that is to say,the lack of autistic individuals’ theory of mind results in their empathy deficits;while the intense world theory emphasizes that the reason why the individuals with autistic traits have empathy deficits is that they have too strong emotional arousal of other people’s emotional stimuli.Therefore,it is necessary to verify these two theories.This study used three methods: behavior experiment,event-related potential(ERP)technology and interview,to explore the influence of autistic trait on empathy in auditory modality and its cognitive neural mechanism,so as to test whether it is the mind-blindness hypothesis or the intense world theory that could better explain the empathy deficits in autistic individuals.The first study explored the effect of autistic traits on auditory empathy through behavioral experiments.The experiment used a 2(group: autistic trait group,control group)× 3(emotion type: positive,neutral,negative)two-factor mixed design,29 subjects in autistic trait group(14 females)and 29 subjects in control group(15 females)were asked to identify the emotional voice of others,and were asked to rate the intensity of others’ emotions and their own emotional reactions on a 9-point scale.In the second study,the cognitive neural mechanism of the effect of autistic traits on auditory empathy were explored through ERP techniques.The experiment used a 2(group: autistic trait group,control group)× 3(emotion type:positive,neutral,negative)× 3(voice order: S1,S2,S3)three-factors mixed design.Based on S1-S2-S3 paradigm,28 subjects(14 females)in autistic trait group(14females)and 28 subjects in control group were required to passively listen to three different valence emotional sounds of the same person,the participants did not need to make any response.In the third study,the characteristics of auditory empathy of autistic individuals in daily life were explored by interview.This study conducted in-depth interviews with four autistic subjects(2 females)and three control subjects(2 females).The interviews involved the individual’s feelings and reactions to other people’s pain sounds.The main research results are as follows:The results of behavioral experiments showed that the correlation between the emotional response of autistic trait group in positive and negative emotions and the emotional intensity of others was higher than that of the control group,and their reaction time is longer.The results of the ERP study showed that in S3-S2 difference wave,N1 wave amplitude,P2 wave amplitude,P3 wave amplitude and LNC wave amplitude were significantly greater for autistic trait group than for control group under positive and negative emotions;while in S2-S1 difference wave,no significant differences were discovered between the two groups under three kinds of emotions.The results of the interview study showed that compared with the control group,the autistic trait group had more emotional arousal when facing the pain voice of others,and they were more likely to have social avoidance behavior and empathy disorder.The above results showed that,compared with the control group,emotion of individuals with autistic traits would be over awakened when they faced strong and repetitive emotional stimuli from others.Therefore,the results of this study supported the intense world theory.This enlightened us that in the education and intervention of autistic individuals,we should filter out the redundant environment and emotional stimulation,and provide them with a relaxed and predictable environment.On the premise of ensuring that they would not have anxiety and discomfort,we should gradually increase the diversity,novelty and complexity of the stimulation of learning,life and social environment. |
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