The role of face familiarity in eye tracking of faces by individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Lindsey Sterling; Geraldine Dawson; Sara Webb; Michael Murias; Jeffrey Munson; Heracles Panagiotides; Elizabeth Aylward

doi:10.1007/s10803-008-0550-1

The role of face familiarity in eye tracking of faces by individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Lindsey Sterling, Geraldine Dawson, Sara Webb, Michael Murias, Jeffrey Munson, Heracles Panagiotides, Elizabeth Aylward

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

It has been shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate normal activation in the fusiform gyrus when viewing familiar, but not unfamiliar faces. The current study utilized eye tracking to investigate patterns of attention underlying familiar versus unfamiliar face processing in ASD. Eye movements of 18 typically developing participants and 17 individuals with ASD were recorded while passively viewing three face categories: unfamiliar non-repeating faces, a repeating highly familiar face, and a repeating previously unfamiliar face. Results suggest that individuals with ASD do not exhibit more normative gaze patterns when viewing familiar faces. A second task assessed facial recognition accuracy and response time for familiar and novel faces. The groups did not differ on accuracy or reaction times.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1666-1675
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume	38
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0550-1
State	Published - Oct 2008
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Attention
Autism spectrum disorder
Eye tracking
Face processing
Familiar face

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Developmental and Educational Psychology

Access to Document

10.1007/s10803-008-0550-1

Cite this

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title = "The role of face familiarity in eye tracking of faces by individuals with autism spectrum disorders",

abstract = "It has been shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate normal activation in the fusiform gyrus when viewing familiar, but not unfamiliar faces. The current study utilized eye tracking to investigate patterns of attention underlying familiar versus unfamiliar face processing in ASD. Eye movements of 18 typically developing participants and 17 individuals with ASD were recorded while passively viewing three face categories: unfamiliar non-repeating faces, a repeating highly familiar face, and a repeating previously unfamiliar face. Results suggest that individuals with ASD do not exhibit more normative gaze patterns when viewing familiar faces. A second task assessed facial recognition accuracy and response time for familiar and novel faces. The groups did not differ on accuracy or reaction times.",

keywords = "Attention, Autism spectrum disorder, Eye tracking, Face processing, Familiar face",

author = "Lindsey Sterling and Geraldine Dawson and Sara Webb and Michael Murias and Jeffrey Munson and Heracles Panagiotides and Elizabeth Aylward",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments We wish to thank the individuals and families who participated in this study. We also wish to thank James McPartland, Ph.D., who contributed his time and technical expertise during the initial stages of this project. This research was funded by a center grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (U54MH066399), which is part of the NIMH STAART Centers.",

year = "2008",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1007/s10803-008-0550-1",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "38",

pages = "1666--1675",

journal = "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders",

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AU - Sterling, Lindsey

AU - Dawson, Geraldine

AU - Webb, Sara

AU - Murias, Michael

AU - Munson, Jeffrey

AU - Panagiotides, Heracles

AU - Aylward, Elizabeth

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments We wish to thank the individuals and families who participated in this study. We also wish to thank James McPartland, Ph.D., who contributed his time and technical expertise during the initial stages of this project. This research was funded by a center grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (U54MH066399), which is part of the NIMH STAART Centers.

PY - 2008/10

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N2 - It has been shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate normal activation in the fusiform gyrus when viewing familiar, but not unfamiliar faces. The current study utilized eye tracking to investigate patterns of attention underlying familiar versus unfamiliar face processing in ASD. Eye movements of 18 typically developing participants and 17 individuals with ASD were recorded while passively viewing three face categories: unfamiliar non-repeating faces, a repeating highly familiar face, and a repeating previously unfamiliar face. Results suggest that individuals with ASD do not exhibit more normative gaze patterns when viewing familiar faces. A second task assessed facial recognition accuracy and response time for familiar and novel faces. The groups did not differ on accuracy or reaction times.

AB - It has been shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate normal activation in the fusiform gyrus when viewing familiar, but not unfamiliar faces. The current study utilized eye tracking to investigate patterns of attention underlying familiar versus unfamiliar face processing in ASD. Eye movements of 18 typically developing participants and 17 individuals with ASD were recorded while passively viewing three face categories: unfamiliar non-repeating faces, a repeating highly familiar face, and a repeating previously unfamiliar face. Results suggest that individuals with ASD do not exhibit more normative gaze patterns when viewing familiar faces. A second task assessed facial recognition accuracy and response time for familiar and novel faces. The groups did not differ on accuracy or reaction times.

KW - Attention

KW - Autism spectrum disorder

KW - Eye tracking

KW - Face processing

KW - Familiar face

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ER -

The role of face familiarity in eye tracking of faces by individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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