Timmermans, B. 1 , Schilbach, L. 2, 1 & Vogeley, K. 1
1 Department of Psychiatry. University Hospital of Cologne. Cologne, Germany.
2 Max-Planck-Institute for Neurological Research. Cologne, Germany.
In a Perceptual Crossing paradigm, two blindfolded participants interact by moving their mouse cursor in a one-dimensional space on a PC. In this space they encounter a fixed and a moving object, and an object representing the other's cursor. At each encounter participants receive a tactile stimulation, and the have to click the mouse whenever they think a stimulation is due to an encounter with the other. Thus, only when they meet, both simultaneously are stimulated. Previous research showed that healthy volunteers show a dissociation between task performance and awareness, in that their interaction dynamics distinguish between the moving object and the other's cursor, which however is not reflected in the proportion of clicks (they are unable to tell the difference explicitly between moving object and the other). We tested dyads consisting of one healthy control with one person with High Functioning Autism. HFA persons can exhibit three types of behaviors: (a) less exploration; (b) less marked (implicit) distinction in interaction dynamics between the moving object and the other; (c) increase in click-based (explicit) distinction between moving object and the other. We observed (b), suggesting problems with implicit interaction feedback.