TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of observing eye contact on gaze following in high-functioning autism
AU - Böckler, Anne
AU - Timmermans, Bert
AU - Sebanz, Natalie
AU - Vogeley, Kai
AU - Schilbach, Leonhard
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - Observing eye contact between others enhances the tendency to subsequently follow their gaze and has been suggested to function as a social signal that adds meaning to an upcoming action or event. The present study investigated effects of observed eye contact in high-functioning autism (HFA). Two faces on a screen either looked at or away from each other before providing congruent or incongruent gaze cues to one of two target locations. In contrast to control participants, HFA participants did not depict enhanced gaze following after observing eye contact. Individuals with autism, hence, do not seem to process observed mutual gaze as a social signal indicating the relevance of upcoming (gaze) behaviour. This may be based on the reduced tendency of individuals with HFA to engage in social gaze behavior themselves, and might underlie some of the characteristic deficiencies in social communicative behaviour in autism.
AB - Observing eye contact between others enhances the tendency to subsequently follow their gaze and has been suggested to function as a social signal that adds meaning to an upcoming action or event. The present study investigated effects of observed eye contact in high-functioning autism (HFA). Two faces on a screen either looked at or away from each other before providing congruent or incongruent gaze cues to one of two target locations. In contrast to control participants, HFA participants did not depict enhanced gaze following after observing eye contact. Individuals with autism, hence, do not seem to process observed mutual gaze as a social signal indicating the relevance of upcoming (gaze) behaviour. This may be based on the reduced tendency of individuals with HFA to engage in social gaze behavior themselves, and might underlie some of the characteristic deficiencies in social communicative behaviour in autism.
KW - Gaze following
KW - High-functioning autism
KW - Joint attention
KW - Social cognition
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84903698165&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10803-014-2038-5
DO - 10.1007/s10803-014-2038-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 24442835
AN - SCOPUS:84903698165
SN - 0162-3257
VL - 44
SP - 1651
EP - 1658
JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
IS - 7
ER -