Atypical Gaze Following in Autism: A Comparison of Three Potential Mechanisms

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• 作者：K. Gillespie-Lynch (1) (2)
  R. Elias (3)
  P. Escudero (4)
  T. Hutman (5)
  S. P. Johnson (2) (5)
  
• 关键词：Response to joint attention ; Autism ; Reflexive gaze following ; Word learning
• 刊名：Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：December 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：43
• 期：12
• 页码：2779-2792
• 全文大小：
• 作者单位：K. Gillespie-Lynch (1) (2)
  R. Elias (3)
  P. Escudero (4)
  T. Hutman (5)
  S. P. Johnson (2) (5)
  
  1. Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island, NY, USA
  2. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  3. Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
  4. MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  5. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Insitute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  
• ISSN：1573-3432

文摘

In order to evaluate the following potential mechanisms underlying atypical gaze following in autism, impaired reflexive gaze following, difficulty integrating gaze and affect, or reduced understanding of the referential significance of gaze, we administered three paradigms to young children with autism (N?=?21) and chronological (N?=?21) and nonverbal mental age (N?=?21) matched controls. Children with autism exhibited impaired reflexive gaze following. The absence of evidence of integration of gaze and affect, regardless of diagnosis, indicates ineffective measurement of this construct. Reduced gaze following was apparent among children with autism during eye-tracking and in-person assessments. Word learning from gaze cues was better explained by developmental level than autism. Thus, gaze following may traverse an atypical, rather than just delayed, trajectory in autism.