Eyes are special but not for everyone: the case of autism.
Current research indicates that human gaze direction is a special cue for shifting attention for one of two reasons: (1) it reflects social desires and intentions and (2) its basic perceptual features usually correspond to important events in the environment. This study, conducted with individuals with autism and with age- and IQ-matched typically developing individuals, dissociates these two often-confounded explanations and demonstrates that eyes appear to be special for typically developing individuals because of their social power, whereas gaze effects are mediated by feature correspondence among persons with autism.
Ristic
Jelena
J
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4. jelena.ristic@telus.net
Mottron
Laurent
L
Friesen
Chris Kelland
CK
Iarocci
Grace
G
Burack
Jacob A
JA
Kingstone
Alan
A
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005123:Eye; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception