Perspective Influences Eye Movements during Real-Life Conversation: Mentalising about Self versus Others in Autism
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| Title: | Perspective Influences Eye Movements during Real-Life Conversation: Mentalising about Self versus Others in Autism |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Barzy, Mahsa, Ferguson, Heather J. (ORCID |
| Source: | Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice. Nov 2020 24(8):2153-2165. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 13 |
| Publication Date: | 2020 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research Tests/Questionnaires |
| Descriptors: | Perspective Taking, Eye Movements, Interpersonal Communication, Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Social Cognition, Foreign Countries, Stimuli |
| Geographic Terms: | United Kingdom |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1362361320936820 |
| ISSN: | 1362-3613 |
| Abstract: | Social-communication is profoundly impaired among autistic individuals. Difficulties representing others' mental states have been linked to modulations of gaze and speech, which have also been shown to be impaired in autism. Despite these observed impairments in 'real-world' communicative settings, research has mostly focused on lab-based experiments, where the language is highly structured. In a pre-registered experiment, we recorded eye movements and verbal responses while adults (N = 50) engaged in a real-life conversation. Using a novel approach, we also manipulated the perspective that participants adopted by asking them questions that were related to the self, a familiar other, or an unfamiliar other. Results replicated previous work, showing reduced attention to socially relevant information among autistic participants (i.e. less time looking at the experimenter's face and more time looking around the background), compared to typically developing controls. Importantly, perspective modulated social attention in both groups; talking about an unfamiliar other reduced attention to potentially distracting or resource-demanding social information and increased looks to non-social background. Social attention did not differ between self and familiar other contexts, reflecting greater shared knowledge for familiar/similar others. Autistic participants spent more time looking at the background when talking about an unfamiliar other versus themselves. Future research should investigate the developmental trajectory of this effect and the cognitive mechanisms underlying it. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2020 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1270027 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | Social-communication is profoundly impaired among autistic individuals. Difficulties representing others' mental states have been linked to modulations of gaze and speech, which have also been shown to be impaired in autism. Despite these observed impairments in 'real-world' communicative settings, research has mostly focused on lab-based experiments, where the language is highly structured. In a pre-registered experiment, we recorded eye movements and verbal responses while adults (N = 50) engaged in a real-life conversation. Using a novel approach, we also manipulated the perspective that participants adopted by asking them questions that were related to the self, a familiar other, or an unfamiliar other. Results replicated previous work, showing reduced attention to socially relevant information among autistic participants (i.e. less time looking at the experimenter's face and more time looking around the background), compared to typically developing controls. Importantly, perspective modulated social attention in both groups; talking about an unfamiliar other reduced attention to potentially distracting or resource-demanding social information and increased looks to non-social background. Social attention did not differ between self and familiar other contexts, reflecting greater shared knowledge for familiar/similar others. Autistic participants spent more time looking at the background when talking about an unfamiliar other versus themselves. Future research should investigate the developmental trajectory of this effect and the cognitive mechanisms underlying it. |
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| ISSN: | 1362-3613 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1362361320936820 |
