To begin, administer consent to participants. Then administer a standardized IQ assessment to participants, ensuring their IQ is 85 or above. To record participants for their speech and gesture production, set up a table microphone in front of the participant and a hidden camera at a 90 degree angle on one side of the participant.
Explain the setup to the participant. Present the first half of the Looney Tunes Cartoon, Canary Row, to the participant, focusing on vignettes when Sylvester the Cat tries to catch Tweety Bird. Instruct the participant to retell the events of the cartoon's first half in detail to the interlocutor.
Guide the interlocutor to encourage more details if the participant's account is brief. Then place a divider. Repeat these steps for the second half of Canary Row, covering additional vignettes of Sylvester's attempts to catch Tweety Bird.
A study conducted on 41 adolescents, of which 18 were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, showed no overall difference in gesture production compared to typically developed adolescents. However, adolescents with autism spectrum disorder produced fewer metaphorical and beat gestures. Also, both groups gestured more to visible interlocutors, with no significant interaction between diagnosis and listener visibility.
