Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T13:33:05.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gaze behavior in autism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Fred R. Volkmar  and
Linda C. Mayes
Fred R. Volkmar*
Affiliation:
Child Study Center, Yale University
Linda C. Mayes
Affiliation:
Child Study Center, Yale University
*
Address reprint requests to: Dr. Volkmar, Yale Child Study Center, P.O. Box 3333, New Haven, CT 06510.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Gaze behavior was assessed in 20 autistic individuels and in an age- and mental-age-matched mentally retarded control group. A time-sample technique was used to collect frequency of gaze directed at staff, at task, and elsewhere (at other) in familiar educational settings as subjects interacted with familiar staff and engaged in familiar educational activities. Gaze behaviors were sampled in each of three interactional conditions defined by staff-subject ratio. Significant effects of the intensity of the interactional condition were observed for both groups. Overall autistic subjects were more likely to look elsewhere than the matched control cases and looked less at staff during one-to-one interaction. Relationships to age, developmental level, and other measures are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 61 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bullowa, M. (Ed.) (1979). Before speech: The beginnings of interpersonal communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Churchill, D., & Bryson, C. Q. (1972). Looking and approach behavior of psychotic and normal children as a function of adult attention or preoccupation. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 13, 171–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D. V., & Sparrow, S. A. (1981). Developing criteria for establishing interrater reliability of specific items: Applications to the assessment of adaptive behavior. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 86, 127–137.Google Scholar
Clark, P., & Rutter, M. (1981). Autistic children's responses to structure and to interpersonal demands. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 11, 201–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dawson, G., & Lewy, A. (1989). Arousal, attention, and the socioemotional impairments of individuals with autism. In Dawson, G. (Ed.), Autism: Nature, diagnosis, and treatment. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Fleiss, J. L. (1975). Measuring agreement between two judges on the presence or absence of a trait. Biometrics, 31, 651–659.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garvey, C., & Hogan, R. (1973). Social speech and social interaction. Egocentrism revisited. Child Development, 44, 562–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermelin, B., & O'Conner, N. (1970). Psychological experiments with autistic children. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Hobson, R. P. (1987). The autistic child's recognition of age- and sex-related characteristics of people. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 17, 63–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hutt, C., & Hutt, S. J. (1976). Stereotypes and their relation to arousal: A study of autistic children. In Hutt, C. & Hutt, S. J. (Eds.), Behavior studies in psychiatry. New York: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Hutt, C., & Ounsted, C. (1966). The biological significance of gaze aversion with particular reference to the syndrome of infantile autism. Behavioral Science, 11, 346–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jennings, W. B. (1973). A study of the preference for affective cues in autistic children. Dissertation Abstract International, 74–3777.Google Scholar
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 227–250.Google Scholar
Kaye, K., & Fogel, A. (1980). The temporal structure of face-to-face communication between mother, and infants. Developmental Psychology, 16, 454–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleinke, C. L. (1986). Gaze and eye contact: A research review. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 78–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krantz, M., George, S. W., and Hursh, K. (1983). Gaze and mutual gaze of preschool children in conversation. The Journal of Psychology, 113, 9–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krug, D. A., Arick, J., & Almond, P. (1980). Behavior checklist for identifying severely handicapped individuals with high levels of autistic behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 21, 221–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langdell, T. (1978). Recognition of faces: An approach to the study of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 19, 255–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lytton, H. (1973). Three approaches to the study of parent–child interaction: Ethological, interview, and experimental. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 14, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayes, L. C., & Carter, A. S. (in press). Emerging social-regulatory capacities as seen in the still face situation. Child Development.Google Scholar
Messer, D. J., & Vietze, P. M. (1984). Timing and transitions in mother–infant gaze. Infant Behavior and Development, 7, 167–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirenda, P. L., Donnellan, A. M., & Yoder, D. E. (1983). Gaze behavior: A new look at an old problem. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 13, 397–409.Google Scholar
Mueller, E. (1972). The maintenance of verbal exchanges between young children. Child Development, 43, 930–938.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Conner, N., & Hermelin, B. (1967). The selective visual attention of autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 167–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ornitz, E. M., Guthrie, D., & Farley, A. H. (1977). The early development of autistic children. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 7, 207–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, D. R., & Durkin, K. (1987). Turn-taking in mother–infant interaction: An examination of vocalizations and gaze. Developmental Psychology, 25, 54–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1978). Diagnosis and definition. In Rutter, M. & Schopler, E. (Eds.), Autism: A reappraisal of concepts and treatment. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaffer, H. R., Collins, G. M., & Parsons, G. (1977). Vocal interchange and visual regard in verbal and preverbal children. In Schaffer, H. R. (Ed.), Studies in mother–infant interaction. London: Academic.Google Scholar
Sigman, M., Mundy, P., Sherman, T., & Ungerer, J. (1986). Social interactions of autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children and their caregivers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27, 647–656.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sparrow, S., Balla, D., & Cicchetti, D. (1984). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Tinbergen, E. A., & Tinbergen, N. (1972). Early childhood autism: An ethological approach. Journal of Comparative Ethology (Suppl. 10).Google Scholar
Volkmar, F. R. (1987). Social Development. In Cohen, D. & Donnelan, A. (Eds.), Handbook of autism. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Volkmar, F. R., Hoder, E. L., & Cohen, D. J. (1985). Compliance, “negativism,” and the effects of treatment structure in autism: A naturalistic, behavioral study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26, 865–877.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Volkmar, F. R., Sparrow, S. S., Goudreau, D., Cicchetti, D. V. et al. , (1987). Social deficits in autism: An operational approach using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 156–161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Volkmar, F. R., Sparrow, S. S., Rende, R. D., & Cohen, D. J. (1989). Facial perception in autism—An experimental study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 591–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wing, L. (1976). Early childhood autism. New York: Pergamon.Google ScholarPubMed
Winer, B. J. (1971). Statistical principles in experimental design. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar