Adaptation to different communicative contexts: an eye tracking study of autistic adults / Julia PARISH-MORRIS in Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 11-1 (December 2019)  

Public ISBD [article]  inJournal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders > 11-1 (December 2019) . - 5 p. Titre : Adaptation to different communicative contexts: an eye tracking study of autistic adults Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Julia PARISH-MORRIS, Auteur ; Ashley A. PALLATHRA, Auteur ; E. FERGUSON, Auteur ; B. B. MADDOX, Auteur ; A. POMYKACZ, Auteur ; L. S. PEREZ, Auteur ; Leila BATEMAN, Auteur ; J. PANDEY, Auteur ; Robert T. SCHULTZ, Auteur ; Edward S. BRODKIN, Auteur Article en page(s) : 5 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Adults  Autism spectrum disorder  Eye gaze  Face processing/perception Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : BACKGROUND: Learning through social observation (i.e., watching other people interact) lays the foundation for later social skills and social cognition. However, social situations are often complex, and humans are only capable of attending to one aspect of a scene at a time. How do people choose where to allocate their visual resources when viewing complex social scenarios? For typically developing (TD) individuals, faces are often given priority. Depending upon context, however, it may be more useful to attend to other aspects of the environment, such as hands, tools, or background objects. Previous studies reported reduced face looking in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but modulation of visual attention in response to contextual differences (e.g., according to social richness, or the presence/absence of communicative behaviors between two people) has only briefly been explored. In this study, we used eye-tracking technology to test the extent to which ASD adults and TD adults use social context to guide their gaze behavior. METHODS: Fifty-five adults participated (28 with ASD). The location and duration of participants' gaze were recorded while they watched a series of naturalistic social videos. Half of the videos depicted two people engaging in non-verbal communication (rich social scenes) while playing with toys. The other half depicted two people playing with toys separately, not interacting with each other (lean social scenes). RESULTS: ASD and TD adults both increased their attention to faces in communicative contexts (rich social scenes) as compared to non-communicative contexts (lean social scenes). However, TD adults increased their attention to faces significantly more when watching two people communicate than did ASD adults, who increased their attention to a lesser degree. Further analysis revealed that ASD adults persisted in looking at hands and toys, even when observing two people communicate in a rich social scene. CONCLUSIONS: Diminished gaze to faces when observing two people communicating may lead to fewer opportunities for social learning and subsequent reductions in social knowledge. Naturalistic measures of contextual modulation could help identify areas of need for individuals learning about the social world and could become treatment targets to improve everyday social learning. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s11689-019-9265-1 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=409 [article] Adaptation to different communicative contexts: an eye tracking study of autistic adults [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Julia PARISH-MORRIS, Auteur ; Ashley A. PALLATHRA, Auteur ; E. FERGUSON, Auteur ; B. B. MADDOX, Auteur ; A. POMYKACZ, Auteur ; L. S. PEREZ, Auteur ; Leila BATEMAN, Auteur ; J. PANDEY, Auteur ; Robert T. SCHULTZ, Auteur ; Edward S. BRODKIN, Auteur . - 5 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders > 11-1 (December 2019) . - 5 p. Mots-clés : Adults  Autism spectrum disorder  Eye gaze  Face processing/perception Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : BACKGROUND: Learning through social observation (i.e., watching other people interact) lays the foundation for later social skills and social cognition. However, social situations are often complex, and humans are only capable of attending to one aspect of a scene at a time. How do people choose where to allocate their visual resources when viewing complex social scenarios? For typically developing (TD) individuals, faces are often given priority. Depending upon context, however, it may be more useful to attend to other aspects of the environment, such as hands, tools, or background objects. Previous studies reported reduced face looking in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but modulation of visual attention in response to contextual differences (e.g., according to social richness, or the presence/absence of communicative behaviors between two people) has only briefly been explored. In this study, we used eye-tracking technology to test the extent to which ASD adults and TD adults use social context to guide their gaze behavior. METHODS: Fifty-five adults participated (28 with ASD). The location and duration of participants' gaze were recorded while they watched a series of naturalistic social videos. Half of the videos depicted two people engaging in non-verbal communication (rich social scenes) while playing with toys. The other half depicted two people playing with toys separately, not interacting with each other (lean social scenes). RESULTS: ASD and TD adults both increased their attention to faces in communicative contexts (rich social scenes) as compared to non-communicative contexts (lean social scenes). However, TD adults increased their attention to faces significantly more when watching two people communicate than did ASD adults, who increased their attention to a lesser degree. Further analysis revealed that ASD adults persisted in looking at hands and toys, even when observing two people communicate in a rich social scene. CONCLUSIONS: Diminished gaze to faces when observing two people communicating may lead to fewer opportunities for social learning and subsequent reductions in social knowledge. Naturalistic measures of contextual modulation could help identify areas of need for individuals learning about the social world and could become treatment targets to improve everyday social learning. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s11689-019-9265-1 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=409

Defining behavioral components of social functioning in adults with autism spectrum disorder as targets for treatment / Ashley A. PALLATHRA in Autism Research, 11-3 (March 2018)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism Research > 11-3 (March 2018) . - p.488-502 Titre : Defining behavioral components of social functioning in adults with autism spectrum disorder as targets for treatment Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Ashley A. PALLATHRA, Auteur ; Monica E. CALKINS, Auteur ; Julia PARISH-MORRIS, Auteur ; B. B. MADDOX, Auteur ; L. S. PEREZ, Auteur ; J. MILLER, Auteur ; Ruben C. GUR, Auteur ; D. S. MANDELL, Auteur ; Robert T. SCHULTZ, Auteur ; Edward S. BRODKIN, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.488-502 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : adult autism spectrum disorder  anxiety  cognition  motivation  skills  social functioning  treatment Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : There is increasing recognition that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) would benefit from treatment to improve social functioning, a key factor in adults' overall quality of life. However, the various behavioral components of social functioning (i.e., categories of behaviors underlying social functioning), including social motivation, social anxiety, social cognition, and social skills, have not all been assessed together in any sample of adults with ASD, making it difficult to know the relative levels of impairment in these various categories, the relationships among these categories, or promising targets for treatments. We hypothesized there would be significant correlations among measures within the same category, but fewer correlations of measures between categories, indicating the heterogeneity of impairments in adults with ASD. Twenty-nine adults with ASD without co-occurring intellectual disability completed multiple assessments measuring social motivation, social anxiety, social cognition, and social skills, as well as measures of overall ASD symptom levels and community functioning. Results revealed significant positive correlations among measures within most categories; positive correlations between measures of social motivation and all other categories, except for social cognition; as well as positive cross-domain correlations between measures of anxiety and ASD phenotype; measures of social skills and community functioning; and measures of social skills and ASD phenotype. Further studies are warranted to determine causal relationships among these behavioral categories, across developmental stages. However, the lack of correlations between many categories suggests the potential importance of multidimensional treatments that target the particular components of social functioning most in need of improvement in individuals. Autism Res 2018, 11: 488-502. (c) 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: The goal of this study was to measure behaviors that contribute to social functioning difficulties in adults with ASD, with the ultimate goal of guiding treatment development. We found that motivation to interact with others was significantly related to social anxiety and social skill. Our results suggest that motivation may be important to target in treatment, and that treatments should be tailored to the areas most in need of improvement in each individual. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aur.1910 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=352 [article] Defining behavioral components of social functioning in adults with autism spectrum disorder as targets for treatment [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Ashley A. PALLATHRA, Auteur ; Monica E. CALKINS, Auteur ; Julia PARISH-MORRIS, Auteur ; B. B. MADDOX, Auteur ; L. S. PEREZ, Auteur ; J. MILLER, Auteur ; Ruben C. GUR, Auteur ; D. S. MANDELL, Auteur ; Robert T. SCHULTZ, Auteur ; Edward S. BRODKIN, Auteur . - p.488-502. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism Research > 11-3 (March 2018) . - p.488-502 Mots-clés : adult autism spectrum disorder  anxiety  cognition  motivation  skills  social functioning  treatment Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : There is increasing recognition that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) would benefit from treatment to improve social functioning, a key factor in adults' overall quality of life. However, the various behavioral components of social functioning (i.e., categories of behaviors underlying social functioning), including social motivation, social anxiety, social cognition, and social skills, have not all been assessed together in any sample of adults with ASD, making it difficult to know the relative levels of impairment in these various categories, the relationships among these categories, or promising targets for treatments. We hypothesized there would be significant correlations among measures within the same category, but fewer correlations of measures between categories, indicating the heterogeneity of impairments in adults with ASD. Twenty-nine adults with ASD without co-occurring intellectual disability completed multiple assessments measuring social motivation, social anxiety, social cognition, and social skills, as well as measures of overall ASD symptom levels and community functioning. Results revealed significant positive correlations among measures within most categories; positive correlations between measures of social motivation and all other categories, except for social cognition; as well as positive cross-domain correlations between measures of anxiety and ASD phenotype; measures of social skills and community functioning; and measures of social skills and ASD phenotype. Further studies are warranted to determine causal relationships among these behavioral categories, across developmental stages. However, the lack of correlations between many categories suggests the potential importance of multidimensional treatments that target the particular components of social functioning most in need of improvement in individuals. Autism Res 2018, 11: 488-502. (c) 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: The goal of this study was to measure behaviors that contribute to social functioning difficulties in adults with ASD, with the ultimate goal of guiding treatment development. We found that motivation to interact with others was significantly related to social anxiety and social skill. Our results suggest that motivation may be important to target in treatment, and that treatments should be tailored to the areas most in need of improvement in each individual. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aur.1910 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=352

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