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).