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Abstract:
12 children with autism (mean age 7 years, 8 months) and 12
typically developing children (mean age 8 years 4 months), matched
for mental age took part in an eye direction detection task. This
task involved presentations of eyes on a computer screen looking
either straight ahead, 10, 15 or 20 degrees to either the left or
the right. Participants were asked to judge as quickly as possible
whether the eyes were looking straight ahead or not by pressing one
of two computer keys. This task involved 120 trials (60 straight
ahead, 60 looking away). Participants also performed a similar
(non-social stimuli) task in which they judged the position of
smaller squares within larger squares either centrally placed, 10,
15 or 20 degrees to the left or right. For eye stimuli looking
straight ahead and eye stimuli at 20 degrees (left or right), both
groups of children were equally accurate at categorising eyes as
either looking at you or not. However when eyes were looking
slightly away (10, 15 degrees) children with autism were
significantly worse at eye direction judgement. Children with
autism were also significantly slower at making judgements when
eyes were looking away compared to when eyes were looking straight
ahead. Analysis of the non-social stimuli revealed a similar
pattern of results suggesting that these effects may be due to a
general perceptual impairment.
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