Social and Object Attention Is Influenced by Biological Sex and Toy Gender-Congruence in Children With and Without Autism.

ABSTRACT: Emerging research suggests social attention in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) girls is enhanced relative to ASD boys but may also be affected by the type of social and nonsocial content presented. This study examined how biological sex and gender norms interact to influence visual attention in 79 school-aged children observing scenes that included gender-associated toys and actors of both sexes. Attention to social (faces) and object activity (hands with toys) stimuli was measured. Previously described distinctions between social attention in ASD boys and girls were replicated, with ASD girls looking more at faces than ASD boys. Irrespective of diagnosis, males and females attended more to actors that shared their same sex, and attended more to toys with gender-associations that were consi

SUBMITTER: Harrop C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8034588 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature