Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine how turn-taking latency and speaker or listener gender affect the perceived intelligence and likability of the speaker across autistic speakers. In addition, the overarching goal of this research is to help speech-language pathologists (SLPs) better provide support and strategies to autistic individuals to improve their social and professional lives. Neurotypical English speakers (20 male and 20 female) were recruited to listen to a series of conversational speech samples collected from a group of eight autistic adults (four male and four female). In each sample, autistic individuals responded to a series of everyday questions such as "Tell me about yourself," "Where are you from?" or "What are you studying?" The speech stimuli were presented to the listeners at random during two 15-minute listening sessions separated by a short 3-minute break. Participants were then instructed to rate their perception of the speakers' intelligence and likability on a visual analog scale. The ends of the visual analog scale were marked by two descriptive points of reference (i.e. "Very Poor" and Very Good"). Results showed that as turn-taking latency increased, the listeners' ratings of perceived intelligence and likability decreased. While listener gender did not have a significant impact on perceived intelligence and likability ratings, mean ratings for speech samples produced by male speakers were lower than those for female speakers. Although listeners' perceptions of female speakers' intelligence showed a generally negative relationship with increasing latency, perceptions of male speakers followed a less consistent pattern, with their highest intelligence ratings at a turn-taking latency of 1 second. This study provides evidence that increased turn-taking latency has an increasingly negative impact on autistic individuals' perceived intelligence and likability. It is hoped that further research will be conducted to provide more data on how best to provide helpful and relevant treatment to autistic individuals.
Degree
MS
College and Department
David O. McKay School of Education; Communication Disorders
Rights
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Atkinson, Brinley, "The Impact of Response Latency on Perceived Level of Intelligence and Likability of Autistic Speakers" (2026). Theses and Dissertations. 11290.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/11290
Date Submitted
2026-05-19
Document Type
Thesis
Permanent Link
https://arks.lib.byu.edu/ark:/34234/q22a1416ae
Keywords
autism, response latency, pause, intelligence, likability
Language
english