Out of mind, out of sight? Investigating abnormal face scanning in autism spectrum disorder using gaze-contingent paradigm.

Diminished social motivation is hypothesized to explain abnormal face scanning pattern in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially reduced eye-looking time in ASDs than typically developing (TD) people. Here, we tested an alternative explanation that children with ASD may use a compensatory strategy to avoid direct eye contact by processing the eyes through peripheral vision. We compared the face scanning patterns of children with and without ASD in two conditions: in the clear condition, the face was completely visible; in the blur condition, by using the gaze-contingent paradigm, the whole face was blurred except for a small region being fixated at, thus children could not rely on the peripheral information to process the eyes. We found that children with ASD fixated less on the eyes than TD children in both conditions. Temporal-course analyses further revealed the possible motivation-based guidance of attention to process the eyes in the TD group but not in the ASD group. Additionally, we found that children with ASD scanned faces more randomly and less strategically than TD children. These results have ruled out the alternative hypothesis that the abnormal face scanning pattern in ASDs was due to their compensatory strategy to process eyes through peripheral vision, furthering our understanding of the mechanisms underlying their abnormal face scanning.

Heterogeneity of Visual Preferences for Biological and Repetitive Movements in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Previous studies have repeatedly reported atypical visual preferences to repetitive movements and deficient perception of biological movements in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, limited research has investigated the heterogeneity of the visual preferences in individuals with ASD. In the current study, we explored the visual preferences to different movement types (repetitive, biological, and random) in children with ASD using a paired preferential looking paradigm. Thirty-nine children with ASD and 37 typically developing (TD) children participated in our study, with their eye movements recorded as the index of visual preferences. We examined the differences of visual preferences between the ASD and TD group, and the heterogeneity of visual preferences within the ASD group. We found group differences between children with ASD and TD children: Overall, the ASD group preferred repetitive movements while the TD group preferred biological movements. We also detected heterogeneity of visual preferences within the ASD group: Although the majority of children with ASD preferred repetitive movements as previous studies reported, 9 out of 39 children with ASD preferred biological movements similarly as their TD peers. Moreover, the visual preference patterns were correlated with autistic symptoms, especially the socio-communicative impairments. Our study provided evidence of heterogeneity of visual attention and main visual preference to repetitive movements in children with ASD. The findings add to the body of literature of the heterogeneous behavioral symptoms and the atypical visual preferences in individuals with ASD. LAY SUMMARY: The current study examined visual preferences to biological, repetitive, and random movements in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We showed a pair of two videos representing two types of movements (random, repetitive, or biological movements) to children with ASD and typically developing children. We found the main visual preferences for repetitive movements and heterogeneity of visual attention within the ASD group. Our findings provide theoretical and methodological implications for future study of the heterogeneity in the ASD population.

Circumscribed Interest Modulates Attention to Eyes in Boys With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit abnormal visual attention, such as diminished attention to eyes and enhanced attention to high-autism-interest objects. We tested whether high-autism-interest objects would modulate the attention to eyes in boys with ASD and typically developing (TD) boys. Twenty-two ASD and 22 TD children were presented simultaneously with human eyes and high/low-autism-interest objects (HAI/LAI) while their eye movements were recorded. We found that visual preference for eyes was influenced by competing objects in children with and without ASD. Specifically, both children with and without ASD showed reduced overall and first looking preference when eyes were paired with HAI objects relative to LAI objects. Children with ASD also showed reduced sustained viewing preference to the eyes after first looking at the eyes and late looking preference to the eyes after first looking at the objects in the HAI condition than the LAI condition, but these effects were absent in the TD group. Our study not only helps us understand some factors that impact attention to eyes, but also has implications for interventions aiming at improving eye contact in children with ASD.

Gaze response to others' gaze following in children with and without autism.

Joint attention (JA) is an important developmental precursor to overall social and cognitive abilities. Most previous studies on JA have focused on participants' passive responses to others' gaze directions. Using a computer-based gaze-contingent eye-tracking task, we explored time-course differences in the reciprocity of social gaze patterns in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in typically developing (TD) children. Specifically, we explored ASD and TD children's gaze responses to others' gaze following. In a trial, children first looked at one of two objects, and then a virtual face followed the children's gaze toward the object that children looked at (congruent condition), looked toward another object instead (incongruent condition), or closed its eyes (closed-eye gaze condition). Eye movements were recorded during the experiment. We found that (a) TD children, but not children with ASD, showed different object-looking times across conditions, suggesting their sensitivity to virtual faces' following their gaze; (b) children with ASD looked at eyes less than TD children; and (c) eye-looking time improved subsequent object-looking time in TD children, whereas it interfered with object-looking time in children with ASD. This study contributes to an understanding of the process of a more complex and reciprocal JA in TD children and the impairments of JA in children with ASD. Furthermore, it provides data relevant to understanding how JA may influence information processing and which aspects of JA are problematic for children with ASD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Theory of Robot Mind: False Belief Attribution to Social Robots in Children With and Without Autism.

This study aims to probe how children with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD) attribute false belief to a social robot and predict its action accordingly. Twenty 5- to 7-year-old children with ASD and 20 age- and IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children participated in two false belief tasks adapted for robot settings (change-of-location task and the unexpected-contents task). The results showed that most TD children are capable of attributing false belief to the social robot, that is, they could infer higher level mental states in robots, which extends our understanding in TD children's perception and cognition on social robots. Conversely, children with ASD still show difficulty in interpreting robots' mental states compared to their TD peers, which would greatly interfere with their interactions and communications with social robots and might impact on efficiency of robot-based intervention and education approaches. This group difference in attributing false belief to social robots could not be explained by the different perception and categorization of the robot. Our study implies that although children with ASD appear to be highly attracted by social robots, they still have difficulty in understanding mental states when socially interacting with robots, which should be taken into consideration when designing the robot-based intervention approach targeting to improve social behaviors of ASD.