2009/04/02

Cartoons could help spot autism 卡通有助發現自閉症

◎自由時報轉載

Watching how a toddler responds to animations could help diagnose autism, research has suggested.

研究顯示,觀察幼兒如何回應動畫,有助診斷自閉症。

Babies usually start paying attention to movement soon after birth, and pick up information from the cues they see but children with autism often do not.

嬰兒出生後不久,通常會開始注意動作,也會從看到的線索之中取得資訊,不過有自閉症的孩童通常不會這樣。

A study, published in Nature, where two-year-olds were shown manipulated animations found those with autism focussed on movement linked to sound.

刊登於自然期刊的一項研究,讓兩歲孩童觀看被處理過的動畫,發現自閉症孩童,專注於與聲音相關的動作。

In the Yale study, researchers created five versions of animated children’s games, each with sound. On the other half of the screen, the same animation was presented upside down and in reverse, but with the same audio as the upright version.

在這項耶魯研究中,研究人員設計了5種孩童遊戲的動畫版本,每種都有聲音。螢幕的另一半畫面,同樣的動畫被上下、正反顛倒地播放,不過聲音與直立的版本相同。

Previous studies have shown that, normally, children’s attention is drawn to such changes from around eight months old.

過去的研究發現,通常大約8個月以上的孩童,注意力會受到這種改變吸引。

Twenty-one toddlers with autistic-spectrum disorders (ASD), 39 who were developing normally and 16 who had developmental problems but did not have autism were studied.

21名有泛自閉症障礙症候群(ASD)的幼兒、39名發育正常的幼兒、16名有發育問題但沒有自閉症的幼兒接受研究。

Both the toddlers who were developing normally and those with developmental problems showed a clear preference for looking at the upright animations. However the toddlers with ASD showed no preference and looked backwards and forwards between the two halves of the screen.

發育正常以及有發育問題的幼兒,明顯偏好注視直立動畫;但自閉症幼兒無此偏好,而是會來回觀看兩邊螢幕。

新聞辭典

spot:動詞,找到、發現。例句:If you spot any mistakes in the article just mark them with a pencil.(如果你在文章裡發現錯誤,就用鉛筆畫出來。)

preference:名詞,偏好。

backwards and forwards :片語,來回地。例句:Paul paced anxiously backwards and forwards.(保羅緊張地來回踱步。)

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