Gaze behavior when looking at paintings may predict autistic traits.

ABSTRACT: From infancy, we spend considerable time absorbing social information from the external world. Social information processing, which starts with looking at facial expressions, affects behavior and cognition. Previous research has demonstrated that looking behaviors at social cues such as faces may differ in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by using eye-tracking studies with real photographs and movies. However, mixed results have been reported. In this study, we examined whether autistic traits in adults affected gaze behavior when participants viewed paintings. The eye-tracking results indicate that gaze patterns change over time during a 20-s free-viewing task. Although the fixations were not influenced during the first 10 s of the viewing, autistic tendencies affected gaze

SUBMITTER: Zhou Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11961244 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature