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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Gepubliceerd in:

01-03-2009 | Original Paper

Do Faces Capture the Attention of Individuals with Williams Syndrome or Autism? Evidence from Tracking Eye Movements

Auteurs: Deborah M. Riby, Peter J. B. Hancock

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | Uitgave 3/2009

Abstract

The neuro-developmental disorders of Williams syndrome (WS) and autism can reveal key components of social cognition. Eye-tracking techniques were applied in two tasks exploring attention to pictures containing faces. Images were (i) scrambled pictures containing faces or (ii) pictures of scenes with embedded faces. Compared to individuals who were developing typically, participants with WS and autism showed atypicalities of gaze behaviour. Individuals with WS showed prolonged face gaze across tasks, relating to the typical WS social phenotype. Participants with autism exhibited reduced face gaze, linking to a lack of interest in socially relevant information. The findings are interpreted in terms of wider issues regarding socio-cognition and attention mechanisms.

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It is not ideal to remove these participants from the analysis; however, taking an alternative approach and inserting the maximum time allowed to view each image (5000msec) for each trial would skew the data and exaggerate group differences reported here, whilst rendering the interpretation less meaningful.

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Titel: Do Faces Capture the Attention of Individuals with Williams Syndrome or Autism? Evidence from Tracking Eye Movements
Auteurs: Deborah M. Riby
Peter J. B. Hancock
Publicatiedatum: 01-03-2009
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / Uitgave 3/2009
Print ISSN: 0162-3257
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-3432
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0641-z

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