title: Eyes are special but not for everyone: the case of autism.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4. jelena.ristic@telus.net
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ristic
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mottron
authors.forename: Chris Kelland
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Friesen
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Iarocci
authors.forename: Jacob A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Burack
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kingstone
mesh_terms: 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