Examining the Link Between Social Affect and Visual Exploration of Cute Stimuli in Autistic Children / Alexandra ZAHARIA in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55-12 (December 2025)  

Public ISBD [article]  inJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders > 55-12 (December 2025) . - p.4212-4225 Titre : Examining the Link Between Social Affect and Visual Exploration of Cute Stimuli in Autistic Children Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Alexandra ZAHARIA, Auteur ; Nada KOJOVIC, Auteur ; Tara ROJANAWISUT, Auteur ; David SANDER, Auteur ; Marie SCHAER, Auteur ; Andrea C. SAMSON, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.4212-4225 Langues : Anglais (eng) Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Baby schema refers to physical features perceived as cute, known to trigger attention, induce positive emotions, and prompt social interactions. Given the reduced visual attention to social stimuli observed in individuals on the autism spectrum, the current study examines whether the sensitivity to baby schema is also affected. We expected that the looking time towards cute-featured stimuli would vary with symptom severity levels and would be associated with social affect. Ninety-four children (31 typically developing; 63 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder - ASD) aged 20-83 months (M = 49.63, SD = 13.59) completed an eye-tracking visual exploration task. Autistic participants were separated into two groups based on symptom severity: children with high autism severity symptoms (HS ASD; N = 23) and low-moderate autism symptoms (LMS ASD; N = 40). Animals and neutral objects were simultaneously presented on the screen along with either human babies (condition 1) or adults (condition 2). The results indicated that visual attention oriented to cute-featured stimuli varied with autism symptom severity: only LMS and TD groups spend more time looking at cute-featured stimuli (babies; animals) than neutral objects. Moreover, children with higher severity in the social affect domain spent less time on the stimuli depicting cute than non-cute stimuli. These findings suggest that autism symptom severity and social skills are linked to variations in visual attention to cute stimuli. Implications of baby schema sensitivity are discussed in relation to the development of social competencies and play, responsiveness to robot-based interventions, as well as appraised relevance in autistic children. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06504-1 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=572 [article] Examining the Link Between Social Affect and Visual Exploration of Cute Stimuli in Autistic Children [texte imprimé] / Alexandra ZAHARIA, Auteur ; Nada KOJOVIC, Auteur ; Tara ROJANAWISUT, Auteur ; David SANDER, Auteur ; Marie SCHAER, Auteur ; Andrea C. SAMSON, Auteur . - p.4212-4225. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders > 55-12 (December 2025) . - p.4212-4225 Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Baby schema refers to physical features perceived as cute, known to trigger attention, induce positive emotions, and prompt social interactions. Given the reduced visual attention to social stimuli observed in individuals on the autism spectrum, the current study examines whether the sensitivity to baby schema is also affected. We expected that the looking time towards cute-featured stimuli would vary with symptom severity levels and would be associated with social affect. Ninety-four children (31 typically developing; 63 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder - ASD) aged 20-83 months (M = 49.63, SD = 13.59) completed an eye-tracking visual exploration task. Autistic participants were separated into two groups based on symptom severity: children with high autism severity symptoms (HS ASD; N = 23) and low-moderate autism symptoms (LMS ASD; N = 40). Animals and neutral objects were simultaneously presented on the screen along with either human babies (condition 1) or adults (condition 2). The results indicated that visual attention oriented to cute-featured stimuli varied with autism symptom severity: only LMS and TD groups spend more time looking at cute-featured stimuli (babies; animals) than neutral objects. Moreover, children with higher severity in the social affect domain spent less time on the stimuli depicting cute than non-cute stimuli. These findings suggest that autism symptom severity and social skills are linked to variations in visual attention to cute stimuli. Implications of baby schema sensitivity are discussed in relation to the development of social competencies and play, responsiveness to robot-based interventions, as well as appraised relevance in autistic children. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06504-1 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=572

Face processing in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: atypical development and visual scanning alterations / Alexandra ZAHARIA in Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 10-1 (December 2018)  

Public ISBD [article]  inJournal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders > 10-1 (December 2018) . - 26 p. Titre : Face processing in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: atypical development and visual scanning alterations Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Alexandra ZAHARIA, Auteur ; Maude SCHNEIDER, Auteur ; Bronwyn GLASER, Auteur ; Martina FRANCHINI, Auteur ; Sarah MENGHETTI, Auteur ; Marie SCHAER, Auteur ; Martin DEBBANE, Auteur ; Stephan ELIEZ, Auteur Année de publication : 2018 Article en page(s) : 26 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Configural face processing  Eye-tracking  Featural face processing  Neurodevelopmental disorders  Social difficulties Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : BACKGROUND: Previous research links social difficulties to atypical face exploration in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS). Two types of face processing are distinguished: configural (CFP) and featural (FFP). CFP develops later in life and plays an important role in face and emotion recognition abilities. Recent studies reported atypical development of CFP in several neurodevelopmental disorders. Taking previous reports of atypical face exploration one step further, our study aims at characterizing face processing in children and adolescents with 22q11.2DS. First, we sought to identify biases in the first two fixation positions on faces and to detect differences between CFP and FFP in 22q11.2DS using eye-tracking technology. Second, we investigated the developmental trajectories of CFP and FFP using accuracy data from follow-up evaluation. METHODS: Seventy-five individuals with 22q11.2DS and 84 typically developed (TD) individuals (aged 6-21 years) completed a discrimination task ("Jane task") inducing CFP and FFP in an eye-tracking setting. Thirty-six individuals with 22q11DS and 30 TD from our sample completed a longitudinal follow-up evaluation. RESULTS: Findings revealed that individuals with 22q11.2DS demonstrate an early bias toward the mouth region during the initial fixations on the faces and reduced flexibility exploration of the faces, with a reduced number of transitions between faces and longer fixations compared to the TD group. Further, scanpaths did not differ between CFP and FFP in the 22q11.2DS group. Longitudinal analysis of accuracy data provided evidence for atypical development of CFP in 22q11.2DS. CONCLUSIONS: The current study brings new evidence of altered face exploration in 22q11.2DS and identifies developmental mechanisms that may contribute to difficulties impacting social interactions in the syndrome. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s11689-018-9245-x Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=386 [article] Face processing in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: atypical development and visual scanning alterations [texte imprimé] / Alexandra ZAHARIA, Auteur ; Maude SCHNEIDER, Auteur ; Bronwyn GLASER, Auteur ; Martina FRANCHINI, Auteur ; Sarah MENGHETTI, Auteur ; Marie SCHAER, Auteur ; Martin DEBBANE, Auteur ; Stephan ELIEZ, Auteur . - 2018 . - 26 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders > 10-1 (December 2018) . - 26 p. Mots-clés : Configural face processing  Eye-tracking  Featural face processing  Neurodevelopmental disorders  Social difficulties Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : BACKGROUND: Previous research links social difficulties to atypical face exploration in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS). Two types of face processing are distinguished: configural (CFP) and featural (FFP). CFP develops later in life and plays an important role in face and emotion recognition abilities. Recent studies reported atypical development of CFP in several neurodevelopmental disorders. Taking previous reports of atypical face exploration one step further, our study aims at characterizing face processing in children and adolescents with 22q11.2DS. First, we sought to identify biases in the first two fixation positions on faces and to detect differences between CFP and FFP in 22q11.2DS using eye-tracking technology. Second, we investigated the developmental trajectories of CFP and FFP using accuracy data from follow-up evaluation. METHODS: Seventy-five individuals with 22q11.2DS and 84 typically developed (TD) individuals (aged 6-21 years) completed a discrimination task ("Jane task") inducing CFP and FFP in an eye-tracking setting. Thirty-six individuals with 22q11DS and 30 TD from our sample completed a longitudinal follow-up evaluation. RESULTS: Findings revealed that individuals with 22q11.2DS demonstrate an early bias toward the mouth region during the initial fixations on the faces and reduced flexibility exploration of the faces, with a reduced number of transitions between faces and longer fixations compared to the TD group. Further, scanpaths did not differ between CFP and FFP in the 22q11.2DS group. Longitudinal analysis of accuracy data provided evidence for atypical development of CFP in 22q11.2DS. CONCLUSIONS: The current study brings new evidence of altered face exploration in 22q11.2DS and identifies developmental mechanisms that may contribute to difficulties impacting social interactions in the syndrome. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s11689-018-9245-x Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=386

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