An Eye Movement Study of Joint Attention Deficits in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Using eye tracking technology to explore the underlying processing mechanisms of joint attention in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The experiment selected 32 ASD children and 34 IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children. By freely viewing different hand-up (palm-up, does not respond to intention information; palm-down, grasping action, response intention information) action videos to explore whether hand movements affect joint attention in children with ASD. The results showed that (1) ASD children and TD children had significantly greater dwell time and fixation counts to the post-cued target than non-targets; (2) Hand movements would affect the joint attention of ASD children and TD children. The dwell time and fixation counts were significantly greater in palms down condition than those with palms up. This suggests that children with ASD have joint attention, and this joint attention is based on intentional information.