title: Spontaneous attention to faces in Asperger syndrome using ecologically valid static stimuli.
abstract: Previous eye tracking research on the allocation of attention to social information by individuals with autism spectrum disorders is equivocal and may be in part a consequence of variation in stimuli used between studies. The current study explored attention allocation to faces, and within faces, by individuals with Asperger syndrome using a range of static stimuli where faces were either viewed in isolation or viewed in the context of a social scene. Results showed that faces were viewed typically by the individuals with Asperger syndrome when presented in isolation, but attention to the eyes was significantly diminished in comparison to age and IQ-matched typical viewers when faces were viewed as part of social scenes. We show that when using static stimuli, there is evidence of atypicality for individuals with Asperger syndrome depending on the extent of social context. Our findings shed light on the previous explanations of gaze behaviour that have emphasised the role of movement in atypicalities of social attention in autism spectrum disorders and highlight the importance of consideration of the realistic portrayal of social information for future studies.
authors.affiliation: Queen's University Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanley
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McPhillips
authors.forename: Gerry
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mulhern
authors.forename: Deborah M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Riby
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult