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Evidence for Impairments in Using Static Line Drawings of Eye Gaze Cues to Orient Visual-Spatial Attention in Children with High Functioning Autism

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Abstract

We examined the ability to use static line drawings of eye gaze cues to orient visual-spatial attention in children with high functioning autism (HFA) compared to typically developing children (TD). The task was organized such that on valid trials, gaze cues were directed toward the same spatial location as the appearance of an upcoming target, while on invalid trials gaze cues were directed to an opposite location. Unlike TD children, children with HFA showed no advantage in reaction time (RT) on valid trials compared to invalid trials (i.e., no significant validity effect). The two stimulus onset asynchronies (200 ms, 700 ms) did not differentially affect these findings. The results suggest that children with HFA show impairments in utilizing static line drawings of gaze cues to orient visual-spatial attention.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the following grants: NIH Grants K01 MH 01824 (MCG), R01 NS048527 (SHM), K02 NS 044850 (SHM), HD024061 (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Center), M01 RR00052 (Johns Hopkins General Clinical Research Center); a grant from the National Alliance for Autism Research (SHM); and a National Science Foundation (NSF) award BCS 03-39171 (SPV). We would like to thank the participants and their parents for generously volunteering their time to participate in this study. We would like to thank Megan Roeder for her assistance in recruiting and screening participants for this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kennedy Krieger Institute, 707 North Broadway, Room 232, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Melissa C. Goldberg, Jennifer C. Gidley Larson, Stewart H. Mostofsky, E. Mark Mahone & Martha B. Denckla

  2. Kennedy Krieger Institute, 1750 East Fairmount Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA

    Allison J. Mostow

  3. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Melissa C. Goldberg, Stewart H. Mostofsky, E. Mark Mahone & Martha B. Denckla

  4. The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Shaun P. Vecera

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  1. Melissa C. Goldberg
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Correspondence to Melissa C. Goldberg.

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Goldberg, M.C., Mostow, A.J., Vecera, S.P. et al. Evidence for Impairments in Using Static Line Drawings of Eye Gaze Cues to Orient Visual-Spatial Attention in Children with High Functioning Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 38, 1405–1413 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0506-x

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