Spontaneous and cued gaze-following in autism and Williams syndrome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

From a young age the typical development of social functioning relies upon the allocation of attention to socially relevant information, which in turn allows experience at processing such information and thus enhances social cognition. As such, research has attempted to identify the developmental processes that are derailed in some neuro-developmental disorders that impact upon social functioning. Williams syndrome (WS) and autism are disorders of development that are characterized by atypical yet divergent social phenotypes and atypicalities of attention to people.

Methods

We used eye tracking to explore how individuals with WS and autism attended to, and subsequently interpreted, an actor's eye gaze cue within a social scene. Images were presented for 3 seconds,

SUBMITTER: Riby DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3766200 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature