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Brief Report: Young adults with autism spectrum disorder show normal attention to eye-gaze information—evidence from a new change blindness paradigm

Fletcher-Watson, S.; Leekam, S.R.; Findlay, J.M.; Stanton, E.C.

Authors

S. Fletcher-Watson

S.R. Leekam

J.M. Findlay

E.C. Stanton



Abstract

Other people’s eye-gaze is a powerful social stimulus that captures and directs visual attention. There is evidence that this is not the case for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), although less is known about attention to eye-gaze in adults. We investigated whether young adults would detect a change to the direction of eye-gaze in another’s face more efficiently than a control change (presence/absence of spectacles). A change blindness method was used in which images showed faces as part of a complex, naturalistic scene. Results showed that adults with ASD, like typically developing controls, were faster and more accurate at detecting eye-gaze than control changes. Results are considered in terms of a developmental account of the relationship between social attention and other skills.

Citation

Fletcher-Watson, S., Leekam, S., Findlay, J., & Stanton, E. (2008). Brief Report: Young adults with autism spectrum disorder show normal attention to eye-gaze information—evidence from a new change blindness paradigm. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(9), 1785 -1790. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0548-8

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Oct 1, 2008
Deposit Date Aug 8, 2008
Journal Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Print ISSN 0162-3257
Electronic ISSN 1573-3432
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 38
Issue 9
Pages 1785 -1790
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0548-8
Keywords Social attention, Change blindness, Eye-gaze direction, Autism.


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