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Chen A, Wang M, Dong B. No effect of autistic traits on social attention: evidence based on single-cue and conflicting-cues scenarios. BMC Psychol 2024; 12:295. [PMID: 38802974 PMCID: PMC11129424 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-01777-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Individuals often use others' gaze and head directions to direct their attention. To investigate the influence of autistic traits on social attention, we conducted two experiments comparing groups with high and low autistic traits in single-cue (Experiment 1) and conflicting-cue (Experiment 2) scenarios. Our findings indicate that individuals responded more rapidly to the direction of a single social cue or the consensus of multiple cues. However, we did not observe significant differences in social attention between individuals with high and low autistic traits. Notably, as the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) increased, individuals with low autistic traits exhibited greater improvements in reaction speed compared to those with high autistic traits. This suggests that individuals with low autistic traits excel at leveraging temporal information to optimize their behavioral readiness over time, hinting at potential variations in cognitive flexibility related to autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Airui Chen
- Department of Psychology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Xuefu Road 99, Suzhou, 215009, China
| | - Meiyi Wang
- Department of Psychology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Xuefu Road 99, Suzhou, 215009, China
| | - Bo Dong
- Department of Psychology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Xuefu Road 99, Suzhou, 215009, China.
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2
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Yoon CD, Xia Y, Terol AK, Meadan H, Lee JD. Correlation Between Gaze Behaviors and Social Communication Skills of Young Autistic Children: A Meta-Analysis of Eye-Tracking Studies. J Autism Dev Disord 2024:10.1007/s10803-024-06257-x. [PMID: 38400896 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06257-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
This meta-analysis examined correlations between eye-tracking measures of gaze behaviors manifested during dynamic salient social stimuli and behavioral assessment measures of social communication skills of young autistic children. We employed a multilevel model with random effects to perform three separate meta-analyses for correlation between social communication skills and (a) all gaze behaviors, (b) gaze duration, and (c) gaze transition. Subsequently, we performed meta-regression to assess the role of four moderators, including age, continuum of naturalness of stimuli, gaze metric, and area of interest, on correlation effect sizes that were heterogeneous at the population level. A total of 111 correlation coefficients from 17 studies for 1132 young autistic children or children with high-likelihood for autism (Mage range = 6-95 months) were included in this meta-analysis. The correlation effect sizes for all three meta-analyses were significant, supporting the relation between improved gaze behaviors and better social communication skills. In addition, age, gaze metric, and area of interest were significant moderators. This suggests the importance of identifying meaningful gaze behaviors related to social communication skills and the increasingly influential role of gaze behaviors in shaping social communication skills as young autistic children progress through the early childhood stage. The continuum of naturalness of stimuli, however, was revealed to trend towards having a significant moderating effect. Lastly, it is important to note the evidence of potential publication bias. Our findings are discussed in the context of early identification and intervention and unraveling the complex nature of autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christy D Yoon
- Department of Special Education, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA.
| | - Yan Xia
- Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA
| | - Adriana Kaori Terol
- Department of Special Education, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA
| | - Hedda Meadan
- Department of Special Education, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA
| | - James D Lee
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, 6901 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA
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Al-Shaban FA, Ghazal I, Thompson IR, Klingemier EW, Aldosari M, Al-Shammari H, Al-Faraj F, El-Hag S, Tolefat M, Ali M, Nasir B, Frazier TW. Development and validation of an Arabic language eye-tracking paradigm for the early screening and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in Qatar. Autism Res 2023; 16:2291-2301. [PMID: 38013243 PMCID: PMC10841856 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
Abnormal eye gaze is a hallmark characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The primary aim of the present research was to develop an Arabic version of an objective measure of ASD, the "autism index" (AI), based on eye gaze tracking to social and nonsocial stimuli validated initially in the United States. The initial phase of this study included the translation of English language eye-tracking stimuli into stimuli appropriate for an Arabic-speaking culture. During the second phase, we tested it on a total of 144 children with ASD, and 96 controls. The AI had excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Moreover, the AI showed good differentiation of ASD from control cases (AUC = 0.730, SE = 0.035). The AI was significantly positively correlated with SCQ total raw scores (r = 0.46, p < 0.001). ADOS-2 scores were only available in the ASD group and did not show a significant relationship with AI scores (r = 0.10, p = 0.348), likely due to the restricted range. The AI, when implemented using Arabic-translated stimuli in a Qatari sample, showed good diagnostic differentiation and a strong correlation with parent-reported ASD symptoms. Thus, the AI appears to have cross-cultural validity and may be useful as a diagnostic aide to inform clinical judgment and track ASD symptom levels as part of the evaluation process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fouad A Al-Shaban
- Neurological Disorders Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Iman Ghazal
- Neurological Disorders Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - I Richard Thompson
- Neurological Disorders Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | | | | | - Hawraa Al-Shammari
- Neurological Disorders Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Fatema Al-Faraj
- Neurological Disorders Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Saba El-Hag
- Sidra Research, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Mohamed Tolefat
- Shafallah Center for Children with Disabilities, Doha, Qatar
| | - Mogahed Ali
- Shafallah Center for Children with Disabilities, Doha, Qatar
| | - Bisher Nasir
- Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Thomas W Frazier
- Department of Psychology, John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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Frazier TW, Busch RM, Klaas P, Lachlan K, Jeste S, Kolevzon A, Loth E, Harris J, Speer L, Pepper T, Anthony K, Graglia JM, Delagrammatikas CG, Bedrosian-Sermone S, Smith-Hicks C, Huba K, Longyear R, Green-Snyder L, Shic F, Sahin M, Eng C, Hardan AY, Uljarević M. Development of webcam-collected and artificial-intelligence-derived social and cognitive performance measures for neurodevelopmental genetic syndromes. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS. PART C, SEMINARS IN MEDICAL GENETICS 2023; 193:e32058. [PMID: 37534867 PMCID: PMC10543620 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.c.32058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
This study focused on the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a set of online, webcam-collected, and artificial intelligence-derived patient performance measures for neurodevelopmental genetic syndromes (NDGS). Initial testing and qualitative input was used to develop four stimulus paradigms capturing social and cognitive processes, including social attention, receptive vocabulary, processing speed, and single-word reading. The paradigms were administered to a sample of 375 participants, including 163 with NDGS, 56 with idiopathic neurodevelopmental disability (NDD), and 156 neurotypical controls. Twelve measures were created from the four stimulus paradigms. Valid completion rates varied from 87 to 100% across measures, with lower but adequate completion rates in participants with intellectual disability. Adequate to excellent internal consistency reliability (α = 0.67 to 0.95) was observed across measures. Test-retest reproducibility at 1-month follow-up and stability at 4-month follow-up was fair to good (r = 0.40-0.73) for 8 of the 12 measures. All gaze-based measures showed evidence of convergent and discriminant validity with parent-report measures of other cognitive and behavioral constructs. Comparisons across NDGS groups revealed distinct patterns of social and cognitive functioning, including people with PTEN mutations showing a less impaired overall pattern and people with SYNGAP1 mutations showing more attentional, processing speed, and social processing difficulties relative to people with NFIX mutations. Webcam-collected performance measures appear to be a reliable and potentially useful method for objective characterization and monitoring of social and cognitive processes in NDGS and idiopathic NDD. Additional validation work, including more detailed convergent and discriminant validity analyses and examination of sensitivity to change, is needed to replicate and extend these observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas W Frazier
- Department of Psychology, John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio, USA
- Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Robyn M Busch
- Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Genomic Medicine Institute, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Patricia Klaas
- Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Katherine Lachlan
- Human Genetics and Genomic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton and Wessex Clinical Genetics Service, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK
| | - Shafali Jeste
- Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Alexander Kolevzon
- Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Eva Loth
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, UK
| | - Jacqueline Harris
- Department of Neurology, Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Tom Pepper
- PTEN Research Foundation, Cheltenham, UK
| | - Kristin Anthony
- PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome Foundation, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
| | | | | | | | - Constance Smith-Hicks
- Department of Neurology, Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Katie Huba
- Department of Psychology, John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio, USA
| | | | | | - Frederick Shic
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington and Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Mustafa Sahin
- Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Charis Eng
- Genomic Medicine Institute, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Antonio Y Hardan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Mirko Uljarević
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Frazier TW. Toward a deeper understanding of child mental health: commentary on 'gene copy number variation and pediatric mental health/neurodevelopment in a general population'. Hum Mol Genet 2023; 32:2409-2410. [PMID: 37202180 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddad088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas W Frazier
- Department of Psychology, John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH 44118, USA
- Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
- Medical and Science Advisory Committee, Autism Speaks, Boone, IA 50037, USA
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Frazier TW, Chetcuti L, Al‐Shaban FA, Haslam N, Ghazal I, Klingemier EW, Aldosari M, Whitehouse AJO, Youngstrom EA, Hardan AY, Uljarević M. Categorical versus dimensional structure of autism spectrum disorder: A multi-method investigation. JCPP ADVANCES 2023; 3:e12142. [PMID: 37753161 PMCID: PMC10519739 DOI: 10.1002/jcv2.12142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Background A key question for any psychopathological diagnosis is whether the condition is continuous or discontinuous with typical variation. The primary objective of this study was to use a multi-method approach to examine the broad latent categorical versus dimensional structure of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method Data were aggregated across seven independent samples of participants with ASD, other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), and non-ASD/NDD controls (aggregate Ns = 512-16,755; ages 1.5-22). Scores from four distinct phenotype measures formed composite "indicators" of the latent ASD construct. The primary indicator set included eye gaze metrics from seven distinct social stimulus paradigms. Logistic regressions were used to combine gaze metrics within/across paradigms, and derived predicted probabilities served as indicator values. Secondary indicator sets were constructed from clinical observation and parent-report measures of ASD symptoms. Indicator sets were submitted to taxometric- and latent class analyses. Results Across all indicator sets and analytic methods, there was strong support for categorical structure corresponding closely to ASD diagnosis. Consistent with notions of substantial phenotypic heterogeneity, the ASD category had a wide range of symptom severity. Despite the examination of a large sample with a wide range of IQs in both genders, males and children with lower IQ were over-represented in the ASD category, similar to observations in diagnosed cases. Conclusions Our findings provide strong support for categorical structure corresponding closely to ASD diagnosis. The present results bolster the use of well-diagnosed and representative ASD groups within etiologic and clinical research, motivating the ongoing search for major drivers of the ASD phenotype. Despite the categorical structure of ASD, quantitative symptom measurements appear more useful for examining relationships with other factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas W. Frazier
- Department of PsychologyJohn Carroll UniversityUniversity HeightsOhioUSA
| | - Lacey Chetcuti
- Olga Tennison Autism Research CentreSchool of Psychology and Public HealthLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Fouad A. Al‐Shaban
- Neurological Disorders Research CenterQatar Biomedical Research InstituteHamad Bin Khalifa UniversityDohaQatar
| | - Nick Haslam
- Melbourne School of Psychological SciencesUniversity of MelbourneMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Iman Ghazal
- Neurological Disorders Research CenterQatar Biomedical Research InstituteHamad Bin Khalifa UniversityDohaQatar
| | | | | | | | - Eric A. Youngstrom
- Department of Psychology and NeuroscienceUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Antonio Y. Hardan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesStanford UniversityStanfordCaliforniaUSA
| | - Mirko Uljarević
- Melbourne School of Psychological SciencesUniversity of MelbourneMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
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Mundy P. Research on social attention in autism and the challenges of the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework. Autism Res 2023; 16:697-712. [PMID: 36932883 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
The fuzzy nature of categories of psychopathology, such as autism, leads to significant research challenges. Alternatively, focusing research on the study of a common set of important and well-defined psychological constructs across psychiatric conditions may make the fundamental etiological processes of psychopathology easier to discern and treat (Cuthbert, 2022). The development of the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework is designed to guide this new research approach (Insel et al., 2010). However, progress in research may be expected to continually refine and reorganize the understanding of the specifics of these mental processes (Cuthbert & Insel, 2013). Moreover, knowledge gleaned from the study of both normative and atypical development can be mutually informative in the evolution of our understanding of these fundamental processes. A case in point is the study of social attention. This Autism 101 commentary provides an educational summary of research over the last few decades indicates that social attention is major construct in the study of human social-cognitive development, autism and other forms of psychopathology. The commentary also describes how this research can inform the Social Process dimension of the RDoC framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Mundy
- School of Education, Department of Psychiatry and the MIND Institute, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
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Haskins AJ, Mentch J, Botch TL, Garcia BD, Burrows AL, Robertson CE. Reduced social attention in autism is magnified by perceptual load in naturalistic environments. Autism Res 2022; 15:2310-2323. [PMID: 36207799 PMCID: PMC10092155 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) describe differences in both social cognition and sensory processing, but little is known about the causal relationship between these disparate functional domains. In the present study, we sought to understand how a core characteristic of autism-reduced social attention-is impacted by the complex multisensory signals present in real-world environments. We tested the hypothesis that reductions in social attention associated with autism would be magnified by increasing perceptual load (e.g., motion, multisensory cues). Adult participants (N = 40; 19 ASC) explored a diverse set of 360° real-world scenes in a naturalistic, active viewing paradigm (immersive virtual reality + eyetracking). Across three conditions, we systematically varied perceptual load while holding the social and semantic information present in each scene constant. We demonstrate that reduced social attention is not a static signature of the autistic phenotype. Rather, group differences in social attention emerged with increasing perceptual load in naturalistic environments, and the susceptibility of social attention to perceptual load predicted continuous measures of autistic traits across groups. Crucially, this pattern was specific to the social domain: we did not observe differential impacts of perceptual load on attention directed toward nonsocial semantic (i.e., object, place) information or low-level fixation behavior (i.e., overall fixation frequency or duration). This study provides a direct link between social and sensory processing in autism. Moreover, reduced social attention may be an inaccurate characterization of autism. Instead, our results suggest that social attention in autism is better explained by "social vulnerability," particularly to the perceptual load of real-world environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J Haskins
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Jeff Mentch
- Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Thomas L Botch
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Brenda D Garcia
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Alexandra L Burrows
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Caroline E Robertson
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
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Palomo R, Ozonoff S, Young GS, Belinchón Carmona M. Social orienting and initiated joint attention behaviors in 9 to 12 month old children with autism spectrum disorder: A family home movies study. Autism Res 2022; 15:1109-1119. [PMID: 35229983 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
According to the Social Motivation model children with autism show deficits in social orienting (looking at faces and responding to name) at the end of their first year of life. In this model, those deficits are both the earliest behavioral consequences of an alteration in the dopamine reward system balance and the foundation of the social impairments that characterize this neurodevelopmental disorder. The current study tests two of the main predictions of this model: that social orienting deficits are the first behavioral manifestation of autism, and that they are developmentally related to joint attention deficits. We retrospectively analyzed family home movies of 9- to 12-month-old infants, 29 of whom were later diagnosed with autism and 16 of whom were typically developing. After confirming that the videotapes of both groups were similar in content of the scenes recorded (contexts, type of social activity, etc.), we compared their social orienting (social gaze and responding to name) and joint attention behaviors (gaze alternation and gestures). No significant differences between groups were found in looking at faces, but the group with autism showed deficits in responding to name and initiations of joint attention (IJA). Looking at people was not significantly correlated with IJA behaviors, but response to name was. The lack of group differences in looking at faces between 9 and 12 months, and the existence of IJA difficulties in the ASD group without concurrent impairment in looking at faces, do not support predictions of the Social Motivation model. LAY SUMMARY: Various theories have been proposed to explain the emergence of autism symptoms early in life. This study tested two key predictions of the Social Motivation model. Comparing family movies of children 9- to 12-months-old later diagnosed with autism or with typical development, we did not observe difficulties in looking at other people's faces but children with autism responded to name and used gaze and gestures to direct the adult's attention to events of interest less frequently. This absence of difficulties in looking at faces does not fit with what the Social Motivation model of autism predicts and therefore we must develop alternative explanations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rubén Palomo
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Sally Ozonoff
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis School of Medicine, UC Davis MIND Institute, California, USA
| | - Gregory S Young
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis School of Medicine, UC Davis MIND Institute, California, USA
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Mundy P, Bullen J. The Bidirectional Social-Cognitive Mechanisms of the Social-Attention Symptoms of Autism. Front Psychiatry 2022; 12:752274. [PMID: 35173636 PMCID: PMC8841840 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.752274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Differences in social attention development begin to be apparent in the 6th to 12th month of development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and theoretically reflect important elements of its neurodevelopmental endophenotype. This paper examines alternative conceptual views of these early social attention symptoms and hypotheses about the mechanisms involved in their development. One model emphasizes mechanism involved in the spontaneous allocation of attention to faces, or social orienting. Alternatively, another model emphasizes mechanisms involved in the coordination of attention with other people, or joint attention, and the socially bi-directional nature of its development. This model raises the possibility that atypical responses of children to the attention or the gaze of a social partner directed toward themselves may be as important in the development of social attention symptoms as differences in the development of social orienting. Another model holds that symptoms of social attention may be important to early development, but may not impact older individuals with ASD. The alterative model is that the social attention symptoms in infancy (social orienting and joint attention), and social cognitive symptoms in childhood and adulthood share common neurodevelopmental substrates. Therefore, differences in early social attention and later social cognition constitute a developmentally continuous axis of symptom presentation in ASD. However, symptoms in older individuals may be best measured with in vivo measures of efficiency of social attention and social cognition in social interactions rather than the accuracy of response on analog tests used in measures with younger children. Finally, a third model suggests that the social attention symptoms may not truly be a symptom of ASD. Rather, they may be best conceptualized as stemming from differences domain general attention and motivation mechanisms. The alternative argued for here that infant social attention symptoms meet all the criteria of a unique dimension of the phenotype of ASD and the bi-directional phenomena involved in social attention cannot be fully explained in terms of domain general aspects of attention development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Mundy
- Department of Learning and Mind Sciences, School of Education, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and The MIND Institute, UC Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, United States
| | - Jenifer Bullen
- Department of Human Development, School of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
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