Intact Reflexive but Deficient Voluntary Social Orienting in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

ABSTRACT: Impairment in social interactions is a primary characteristic of people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although these individuals tend to orient less to naturalistic social cues than do typically developing (TD) individuals, laboratory experiments testing social orienting in ASD have been inconclusive, possibly because of a failure to fully isolate reflexive (stimulus-driven) and voluntary (goal-directed) social orienting processes. The purpose of the present study was to separately examine potential reflexive and/or voluntary social orienting differences in individuals with ASD relative to TD controls. Subjects (ages 7-14) with high-functioning ASD and a matched control group completed three gaze cueing tasks on an iPad in which individuals briefly saw a face with averted

SUBMITTER: Kirchgessner MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4665260 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature