How do children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) see the colours?: comparison of cultures between Japan and Italy

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K23318
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: :Education and related fields
• Research Institution: University of the Ryukyus (2020-2021); Nagasaki University (2019)
• Principal Investigator: Iriguchi Mayuko 琉球大学, 国際地域創造学部, 助教 (50846178)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 自閉症スペクトラム障害（ASD） / 色の好み

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of colour perception and cognition in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), compared to children with typical development (TD), and their cultural influences. However, due to the global spread of COVID-19 and the transfer of the principal investigator, face-to-face researches could not be conducted. Therefore, research was modified to focus on colour preference for Japanese children with ASD and TD, using mail questionnaires. Although data analysis has not been completed, the middle results suggest that colour preferences show similar trends between ASD and TD children, while ASD children tended to mark colour preferences slightly lower than TD children. The scores for ASD and TD children also differed by colour types. In the near future, all data will be analysed, and the characteristics of colour preference in ASD children will be revealed.

Free Research Field

心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ASD児童がどのような色の知覚認知機能を持つのかについて調査した研究は非常に少ない。これらの主な研究例は国外のASD児童を対象としたものが多く、国内のASD児童の色の知覚認知機能の特性、また、それらの機能が文化の影響をどの程度受けるのかは明らかではない。本研究は、未だ研究例の少ないASD児童の色に関する特性について明らかにし、今後のASDの色に関する特性、及び、文化との関連についての研究の一助となると考えられる。これらの研究成果により、ASD児童にとって、注意を向けやすく記憶しやすい色や嫌悪感の少ない色を、交通標識や表示などを含む環境、学校や家庭の日常生活や学習教材に活用することが期待される。