Impaired disengagement of attention in young children with autism

Landry, Reginald; Bryson, Susan E.

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00304.x

Cited by 458 publications

(412 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Study of scanpath progression found somewhat shorter scanpaths for the ASD participants, suggesting a tendency to explore areas closer to the current fixation than their TD peers. Investigation of fixation rate via a Poisson regression model indicated both the above differences were not simply due to a reduction in the rate of new fixations but rather fundamentally differing strategies adopted by each group, therefore we found no evidence of sticky attention, or delayed disengagement at the level of fixation, in our current dataset (Kikuchi et al 2011;Landry and Bryson 2004). Our data also reveal that interest in a more restricted area within scenes was not only found in the eye-tracking data but also in the verbal description data as participants with ASD missed significantly more areas within the scenes from their verbal descriptions than did the TD participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…If found to be correct, our tailored models would enable us to establish whether differences were more likely a result of persistence within an area (South et al 2005;Pierce and Courchesne 2001) or reversion to previously explored areas (Pellicano et al 2011). Additionally, we were able to establish whether individuals with ASD generally moved their eyes over a shorter distance, as indicated by scanpath length, and whether there was a reduced fixation rate overall, which would support suggestions of individuals with ASD exhibiting delayed disengagement from the current fixation (Kikuchi et al 2011;Landry and Bryson 2004). We were also interested in the potential implications of more restricted viewing on perception and specifically whether verbal descriptions would also be more restricted.…”

Section: Individuals With Asd Generally Display Heightened Attention mentioning

confidence: 88%

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Reduced visual exploration when viewing photographic scenes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Heaton¹,

Freeth²

2016

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

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Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often display enhanced attention to detail and exhibit restricted behaviour. However, due to a lack of comprehensive eye-movement modelling techniques, it is currently unknown whether these behavioural effects are also evident during scene viewing (i.e. detailed visual inspection and restricted visual exploration). Free viewing eye-tracking data from observation of everyday photographic scenes were recorded during two experiments involving high functioning adolescents with ASD and matched typically developing (TD) controls (Experiment 1 ASD n=14; TD n=22; Experiment 2 ASD n=16; TD n=23). Data from both experiments were combined and analysed using five novel methods of eye-tracking time-course analysis, enabling detailed characterisation of viewing strategies. Participants' verbal descriptions of scenes were also assessed. Scenes either contained a centrally positioned person whose face was in full view or contained no centrally positioned face. For both types of scene, ASD participants displayed significantly less exploration of new areas over time compared to their TD peers. Analyses of scanpath length and recursion suggested a greater tendency to explore areas close to the current fixation in the ASD group, termed visual persistence. Differences were not accounted for by fixation rate. Significantly more areas within the scenes were also missing from the verbal descriptions in the ASD group. Differences were observed for both scene types suggesting a domain-general difference rather than a specific impairment related to face processing. The observed characteristic viewing patterns may explain relative superior processing of local level information in individuals with ASD.General Scientific Summary: Using new analytic approaches to eye-tracking data, we demonstrate that eye movements when free-viewing visually complex scenes made by individuals with autism are fundamentally different compared to those of their typically developing peers. We observed reduced visual exploration in those with autism and a greater tendency to explore areas close to the current fixation. This will result in the visual information received by the perceptual system being systematically different between those who have autism and those who do not.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Individuals With Asd Generally Display Heightened Attention mentioning

confidence: 88%

Reduced visual exploration when viewing photographic scenes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Heaton¹,

Freeth²

2016

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

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“…Maybe attention disengagement is necessary for sharing attention on a more basic level, but once children use pointing behaviours, it may lose its importance. Important to note here is that joint attention on a lower level (alternates) rather than on a higher level (pointing) has been shown to be the more powerful discriminant marker of autism (e.g., Dawson et al, 2004) and that literature suggests that joint attention alternates may be sensitive to frontal lobe functional disturbance which may be central to fundamental features of autism (Landry & Bryson, 2004;Mundy, 2003;Schilbach et al, 2009). …”

Section: Attention Disengagementmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…To measure attentional skills, a visual orientation task was conducted, partially based on the paradigm of Landry and Bryson (2004). Stimuli were simple coloured line drawings, presented on a 21" LCD monitor.…”

Section: Tasks and Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the Nature of Joint Attention Impairments in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associated Social and Cognitive Skills

Schietecatte

Roeyers

Warreyn

2011

J Autism Dev Disord

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Exploring the nature of joint attention impairments in young children with autism spectrum disorder: associated social and cognitive skills. AbstractIt is generally accepted that joint attention skills are impaired in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, social preference, attention disengagement and intention understanding, assumed to be associated with the development of joint attention, are explored in relation to joint attention skills in children with ASD at the age of 36 months.Response to joint attention was related to intention understanding, whereas the number of joint attention initiations was associated with attention disengagement, and somewhat less stronger with social preference. The level on which children initiated joint attention was related to social preference. Possible interpretations of these findings are discussed.

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Limited Attentional Bias for Faces in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Chawarska¹,

Volkmar²,

Klin³

2010

Arch Gen Psychiatry

141

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Context Toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit poor face recognition and atypical scanning patterns in response to faces. It is not clear if face-processing deficits are also expressed on an attentional level. Typical individuals require more effort to shift their attention from faces compared with other objects. This increased disengagement cost is thought to reflect deeper processing of these socially relevant stimuli. Objective To examine if attention disengagement from faces is atypical in the early stages of ASD. Design Attention disengagement was tested in a variation of the cued attention task in which participants were required to move their visual attention from face or non-face central fixation stimuli and make a reactive saccade to a peripheral target. The design involved diagnosis as a between-group factor and central fixation stimuli type as a within-group factor. Setting Participants were taken from a cohort of patients at a university-based specialized clinic or from a pool of subjects participating in a prospective study of social cognition in ASD. Participants Toddlers with ASD (mean age, 32 months [n=42]) were compared with toddlers with nonautistic developmental delays (mean age, 29 months [n=31]) and with typically developing toddlers (mean age, 29 months [n=46]). Main Outcome Measure Saccadic reaction time. Results Developmentally delayed and typically developing toddlers had more difficulties disengaging visual attention from faces than toddlers with ASD. This effect was not present in response to nonfacial stimuli. These results suggest that toddlers with ASD are not captivated by faces to the same extent as toddlers without ASD and that this effect is not driven by a generalized impairment in disengagement of attention. Conclusion The results suggest that face-processing difficulties in toddlers with ASD involve disruption of an attentional mechanism that typically supports deeper processing of these highly socially relevant stimuli.

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Impaired disengagement of attention in young children with autism

Abstract: Our findings on disengagement in autism parallel those reported in normal 2-month-olds, in whom attention has been described as 'obligatory'. Discussion focuses on the potential role of general versus domain-specific processes in producing some of the core features of autism.

Cited by 458 publications

References 32 publications

Reduced visual exploration when viewing photographic scenes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Reduced visual exploration when viewing photographic scenes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Exploring the Nature of Joint Attention Impairments in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associated Social and Cognitive Skills

Limited Attentional Bias for Faces in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorders

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