Autistic People Are Better at Reading Emotions in Cartoons

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[b]New research carried out by psychologists at Edge Hill University shows that contrary to popular belief, people with autism may actually be better than neurotypical people at reading emotions in some contexts.

Dr. Liam Cross and Dr. Gray Atherton conducted a study where people were shown pictures of real eyes expressing various emotions; participants then had to identify which emotion was being displayed. This test is known as the “Reading Mind in the Eyes Test.” In addition, participants also took a cartoonized version where they had to interpret emotions from cartoon eyes.

When presented with cartoon eyes, people with autism were better at naming the emotions displayed.

The overall implications for these findings support the view of socio-cognitive differences rather than deficits in autistic people.

This research also raises the possibility of new interventions that could help to improve human-to-human social interaction for people with autism.