Intention Perception in High Functioning People with Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Animacy Displays Derived from Human Actions

The perception of intent in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often relies on synthetic animacy displays. This study tests intention perception in ASD via animacy stimuli derived from human motion. Using a forced choice task, 28 participants (14 ASDs; 14 age and verbal-I.Q. matched controls) categorized displays of Chasing, Fighting, Flirting, Following, Guarding and Playing, from two viewpoints (side, overhead) in both animacy and full video …