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Continuous Cognitive Dynamics of the Evaluation of Trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome

The decision to approach or avoid an unfamiliar person is based in part on one’s evaluation of facial expressions. Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) are characterized in part by an excessive desire to approach people, but they display deficits in identifying facial emotional expressions. Liker...

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Autores principales: Martens, Marilee A., Hasinski, Adam E., Andridge, Rebecca R., Cunningham, William A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Research Foundation 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3366340/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22675313
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00160
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author Martens, Marilee A.
Hasinski, Adam E.
Andridge, Rebecca R.
Cunningham, William A.
author_facet Martens, Marilee A.
Hasinski, Adam E.
Andridge, Rebecca R.
Cunningham, William A.
author_sort Martens, Marilee A.
collection PubMed
description The decision to approach or avoid an unfamiliar person is based in part on one’s evaluation of facial expressions. Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) are characterized in part by an excessive desire to approach people, but they display deficits in identifying facial emotional expressions. Likert-scale ratings are generally used to examine approachability ratings in WS, but these measures only capture an individual’s final approach/avoid decision. The present study expands on previous research by utilizing mouse-tracking methodology to visually display the nature of approachability decisions via the motor movement of a computer mouse. We recorded mouse movement trajectories while participants chose to approach or avoid computer-generated faces that varied in terms of trustworthiness. We recruited 30 individuals with WS and 30 chronological age-matched controls (mean age = 20 years). Each participant performed 80 trials (20 trials each of four face types: mildly and extremely trustworthy; mildly and extremely untrustworthy). We found that individuals with WS were significantly more likely than controls to choose to approach untrustworthy faces. In addition, WS participants considered approaching untrustworthy faces significantly more than controls, as evidenced by their larger maximum deviation, before eventually choosing to avoid the face. Both the WS and control participants were able to discriminate between mild and extreme degrees of trustworthiness and were more likely to make correct approachability decisions as they grew older. These findings increase our understanding of the cognitive processing that underlies approachability decisions in individuals with WS.
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spelling pubmed-33663402012-06-06 Continuous Cognitive Dynamics of the Evaluation of Trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome Martens, Marilee A. Hasinski, Adam E. Andridge, Rebecca R. Cunningham, William A. Front Psychol Psychology The decision to approach or avoid an unfamiliar person is based in part on one’s evaluation of facial expressions. Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) are characterized in part by an excessive desire to approach people, but they display deficits in identifying facial emotional expressions. Likert-scale ratings are generally used to examine approachability ratings in WS, but these measures only capture an individual’s final approach/avoid decision. The present study expands on previous research by utilizing mouse-tracking methodology to visually display the nature of approachability decisions via the motor movement of a computer mouse. We recorded mouse movement trajectories while participants chose to approach or avoid computer-generated faces that varied in terms of trustworthiness. We recruited 30 individuals with WS and 30 chronological age-matched controls (mean age = 20 years). Each participant performed 80 trials (20 trials each of four face types: mildly and extremely trustworthy; mildly and extremely untrustworthy). We found that individuals with WS were significantly more likely than controls to choose to approach untrustworthy faces. In addition, WS participants considered approaching untrustworthy faces significantly more than controls, as evidenced by their larger maximum deviation, before eventually choosing to avoid the face. Both the WS and control participants were able to discriminate between mild and extreme degrees of trustworthiness and were more likely to make correct approachability decisions as they grew older. These findings increase our understanding of the cognitive processing that underlies approachability decisions in individuals with WS. Frontiers Research Foundation 2012-06-04 /pmc/articles/PMC3366340/ /pubmed/22675313 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00160 Text en Copyright © 2012 Martens, Hasinski, Andridge and Cunningham. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited.
spellingShingle Psychology
Martens, Marilee A.
Hasinski, Adam E.
Andridge, Rebecca R.
Cunningham, William A.
Continuous Cognitive Dynamics of the Evaluation of Trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome
title Continuous Cognitive Dynamics of the Evaluation of Trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome
title_full Continuous Cognitive Dynamics of the Evaluation of Trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome
title_fullStr Continuous Cognitive Dynamics of the Evaluation of Trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome
title_full_unstemmed Continuous Cognitive Dynamics of the Evaluation of Trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome
title_short Continuous Cognitive Dynamics of the Evaluation of Trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome
title_sort continuous cognitive dynamics of the evaluation of trustworthiness in williams syndrome
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3366340/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22675313
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00160
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