Contribution of social and information-processing factors to eye-gaze avoidance in fragile X syndrome.
The influence of social and information-processing demands on eye-gaze avoidance in individuals with fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, or typical development were examined by manipulating those demands in a structured-language task. Participants with fragile X syndrome exhibited more gaze avoidance than did those in the comparison groups, but no group differences in avoidance were found between a social and nonsocial condition. Task difficulty affected gaze avoidance in the nonsocial but not in the social condition. In the nonsocial condition, the effect of task difficulty was less pronounced for the fragile X syndrome than comparison groups. Findings suggest that multimodal task demands rather than eye contact per se contribute to gaze avoidance in persons with fragile X syndrome.
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. murphym@kennedykrieger.org
Melissa M
MM
Murphy
Leonard
L
Abbeduto
Susan
S
Schroeder
Ronald
R
Serlin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002657:Child Development; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D005600:Fragile X Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012919:Social Behavior; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014743:Videotape Recording