关键词: 表情面孔, 工作记忆, 表情识别, 高功能孤独症

Abstract: Objective To examine the deficit of working memory on emotional faces in children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and analyze the relationship of working memory on emotional faces and the ability of facial expression recognition. Methods Nineteen children (aged 6.5~12 years old) with HFA and nineteen typically developing (TD) children matched with age and gender were recruited.To evaluate the abilities of working memory on emotional faces and facial expression recognition,all the children were required to complete the facial emotion delayed match-to-sample task and facial expression naming task. Results Children in HFA group showed lower accurate rates and longer reaction times in the facial emotion delayed match-to-sample task,while comparing to TD group.But no statistical difference was showed in the accurate rates of working memory on happy faces between two groups.There was positive correlation between the accurate rates of facial emotion delayed match-to sample task and facial expression naming task in HFA group,and positive correlation was showed in the reaction times of these two tasks for TD group. Conclusions Results of this study suggest the impairments of working memory on emotional faces in children with HFA.It's possible that the deficit of working memory on emotional faces is one of the important factors leading to the emotion cognition deficit in children with HFA.

Key words: emotional faces, working memory, facial expression recognition, high-functioning autism