Abstract
It has been suggested that individuals with autism will be less responsive to the emotional content of music than typical
individuals. With the aim of testing this hypothesis, a group of high-functioning adults on the autism spectrum was compared
with a group of matched controls on two measures of emotional responsiveness to music, comprising physiological and verbal
measures. Impairment in participants ability to verbalize their emotions (type-II alexithymia) was also assessed. The groups
did not differ significantly on physiological responsiveness, but the autism group was significantly lower on the verbal measure.
However, inclusion of the alexithymia score as a mediator variable nullified this group difference, suggesting that the difference
was due not to absence of underlying emotional responsiveness to music in autism, but to a reduced ability to articulate it.
individuals. With the aim of testing this hypothesis, a group of high-functioning adults on the autism spectrum was compared
with a group of matched controls on two measures of emotional responsiveness to music, comprising physiological and verbal
measures. Impairment in participants ability to verbalize their emotions (type-II alexithymia) was also assessed. The groups
did not differ significantly on physiological responsiveness, but the autism group was significantly lower on the verbal measure.
However, inclusion of the alexithymia score as a mediator variable nullified this group difference, suggesting that the difference
was due not to absence of underlying emotional responsiveness to music in autism, but to a reduced ability to articulate it.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- Pages 1-13
- DOI 10.1007/s10803-012-1587-8
- Authors
- Rory Allen, Department of Psychology, Whitehead Building, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW UK
- Rob Davis, Department of Psychology, Whitehead Building, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW UK
- Elisabeth Hill, Department of Psychology, Whitehead Building, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW UK
- Journal Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
- Online ISSN 1573-3432
- Print ISSN 0162-3257