title: Broad autism phenotype in typically developing children predicts performance on an eye-tracking measure of joint attention.
abstract: We examined visual attention allocation during a set of social videos that are intended to elicit the coordination of attention with another person, compared to a control condition. Deficits in joint attention are a characteristic of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants included a diverse sample of 50 typically developing school-aged children between 3 and 9 years of age (M = 6:3, SD = 1:8). Results demonstrated that gaze allocation differed significantly between the experimental and control condition. Further, individual differences in gaze allocation were significantly predicted by a parent-report measure evaluating features of the broad autism phenotype. This study contributes to a research program that aims to develop and validate an endophenotype measure of ASD.
authors: Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience Subprogram in Psychology, The Graduate Center of City University of New York, 365 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10016-4309, USA. mswanson@gc.cuny.edu
authors: Meghan R
authors: MR
authors: Swanson
authors: Gayle C
authors: GC
authors: Serlin
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Siller
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D058068:Endophenotypes; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male