Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

Miscommunication can be a frustrating aspect of communicating with others. A difficult kind of miscommunication to work through is an ambiguity or a referent that is open to more than one interpretation. Depending on the severity of this kind of miscommunication, conversational partners may choose to work through the miscommunication or give up altogether. Disorders of social communication such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may inhibit the ability for individuals to work through this kind of miscommunication. Because communication is so vital to life, investigating the influence of various miscommunications for individuals with social communication deficits can be informative to future research in several fields. In this study, the effect of globally ambiguous statements has on the amount of processing effort a listener with ASD puts forth will be explored. By using noninvasive remote eye-tracking methodology, gesture production will be investigated. During the task, participants will be instructed to click on an object and then view feedback about whether her choice was correct. As a part of the design, some of the trials will include ambiguous statements that make choosing an object more difficult. Then, the participant will learn the source of the ambiguity. It is expected that the processing effort of listeners with ASD may be influenced by the source of the ambiguity and the reliability of a message, differently than typically developing (TD) listeners. It is believed that language users with ASD may have a more difficult time judging conversational context and outcomes during communication.