Formulation of stimuli sets and evaluation of facial emotion processing in typically developing individuals and in the clinical populations of intellectual disability, autistic disorder, and asperger's disorder

This thesis examined facial emotion processing, facial identity processing and complex visual discrimination in Typically Developing individuals and in the clinical populations of Intellectual Disability, Autistic Disorder, and Asperger's Disorder. The majority of studies investigating facial emotion processing in samples from the Typically Developing population have focused on infants or young children. Very few studies have considered facial emotion processing in teens and adults. There has also been a paucity of research regarding gender differences and the influence of verbal ability on facial emotion processing for these populations. For the clinical populations of Intellectual Disability, Autistic Disorder and Asperger's Disorder, research findings on facial emotion processing has been conflicting. Some investigations have identified specific deficits, whilst other studies have found no differences among the clinical groups. Therefore questions remain regarding facial emotion processing across the developmental trajectory of the Typical Developing population, and whether there is a specific facial emotion processing deficit associated with the clinical groups of Intellectual Disability, Autistic Disorder/Asperger's Disorder.