Cited by 317Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentFace Recognition and Perception

Context modulates attention to social scenes in toddlers with autism

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Chawarska, Katarzyna, Macari, Suzanne, Shic, Frederick·2012·Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Abstract

Background: In typical development, the unfolding of social and communicative skills hinges upon the ability to allocate and sustain attention toward people, a skill present moments after birth. Deficits in social attention have been well documented in autism, though the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Methods: In order to parse the factors that are responsible for limited social attention in toddlers with autism, we manipulated the context in which a person appeared in their visual field with regard to the presence of salient social (child‐directed speech and eye contact) and nonsocial (distractor toys) cues for attention. Participants included 13‐ to 25‐month‐old toddlers with autism (autism; n = 54), developmental delay (DD; n = 22), and typical development (TD; n = 48). Their visual responses were recorded with an eye‐tracker. Results: In conditions devoid of eye contact and speech, the distribution of attention between key features of the social scene in toddlers with autism was comparable to that in DD and TD controls. However, when explicit dyadic cues were introduced, toddlers with autism showed decreased attention to the entire scene and, when they looked at the scene, they spent less time looking at the speaker’s face and monitoring her lip movements than the control groups. In toddlers with autism, decreased time spent exploring the entire scene was associated with increased symptom severity and lower nonverbal functioning; atypical language profiles were associated with decreased monitoring of the speaker’s face and her mouth. Conclusions: While in certain contexts toddlers with autism attend to people and objects in a typical manner, they show decreased attentional response to dyadic cues for attention. Given that mechanisms supporting responsivity to dyadic cues are present shortly after birth and are highly consequential for development of social cognition and communication, these findings have important implications for the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of limited social monitoring and identifying pivotal targets for treatment.

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Crossref · 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2012.02538.x

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  • Fixation duration atypicalities are not specific to social stimuli.

    “This suggests that fixation duration atypicalities are not specific to social stimuli, like other previous measures (cf. e.g. ref. 35) – and may reflect general visual information processing or attentional differences.”
  • Difficulties with orienting towards and engaging with people and their faces and voices have been frequently described in older children with autism.

    “Difficulties with orienting towards and engaging with people and their faces and voices have been frequently described in older children with autism (Chawarska, Macari, & Shic, 2012; Kikuchi, Senju, Tojo, & Osanai, 2009).”

    From From early markers to neuro-developmental mechanisms of autism (2014) · cites this paper as Chawarska, Macari, & Shic, 2012

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Authors
Chawarska, K., Macari, S., & Shic, F.
Affiliations
Yale University (US)
Venue
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2012-03-17
Volume
53
Issue
8
Pages
903-913
ISSN
  • 0021-9630 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-7610
OpenAlex
W2149550211
Cited by
317
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 3
FWCI
7.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
  • Autism Research Foundation
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R03MH092618, R01MH087554, P50MH081756, R03MH086732)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P01HD003008)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, toddlers, social attention, eye contact, child-directed speech, face processing, context effects, developmental delay, symptom severity, language profiles, social cognition
MeSH terms
Attention, Autistic Disorder, Child, Preschool, Cues, Female, Humans, Infant, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Play and Playthings, Social Perception, Case-Control Studies, Eye Movement Measurements

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