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Updated: Nov 2, 2025

Comparing Eye-tracking Data of Children with High-functioning ASD, Comorbid ADHD, and of a Control Watching Social Videos
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Comparing Eye-tracking Data of Children with High-functioning ASD, Comorbid ADHD, and of a Control Watching Social Videos

Published on: December 7, 2018

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Social synchronization during joint attention in children with autism spectrum disorder

Qinyi Liu1, Qiandong Wang2, Xue Li1

  • 1Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, China.

Autism Research : Official Journal of the International Society for Autism Research
|June 9, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can synchronize gaze shifts during joint attention tasks, but show less synchronization and longer latency compared to typically developing children.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Interaction Research

Background:

  • Social interaction impairments are a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
  • Gaze synchronization is a fundamental aspect of joint attention and social communication.
  • Understanding gaze-shift dynamics in ASD offers insights into social deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the social synchronization of gaze-shift behaviors in children with ASD during response to joint attention (RJA) tasks.
  • To compare gaze synchronization patterns between children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children.
  • To explore the utility of cross-recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA) for assessing social synchrony in ASD.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized RJA tasks where 41 children with ASD and 43 TD children (aged 5-8) watched a video.
  • Collected gaze data from participants during the RJA tasks.
  • Applied CRQA to quantify the synchronization of gaze shifts between children and a video model.

Main Results:

  • Children with ASD demonstrated the ability to synchronize gaze shifts with the video model during RJA tasks.
  • Compared to TD children, children with ASD exhibited significantly lower levels of gaze synchronization.
  • Children with ASD showed a longer latency in their synchronized gaze-shift behavior.

Conclusions:

  • Children with ASD can engage in gaze synchronization, but it is less efficient than in TD peers.
  • The findings highlight specific differences in social interaction dynamics within ASD.
  • The CRQA method offers a valuable tool for future research on social synchrony in ASD and other social interactive behaviors.

Keywords:
autism spectrum disordercross-recurrence quantification analysiseye movementgaze-shift behaviorsjoint attentionsocial synchronization

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