Jaworski Jessica L Bean, Eigsti Inge-Marie
a Department of Psychology , University of Connecticut , Storrs , CT , USA.
Child Neuropsychol. 2017 Apr;23(3):316-331. doi: 10.1080/09297049.2015.1104293. Epub 2015 Nov 15.
Visual attention is integral to social interaction and is a critical building block for development in other domains (e.g., language). Furthermore, atypical attention (especially joint attention) is one of the earliest markers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study assesses low-level visual attention and its relation to social attentional processing in youth with ASD and typically developing (TD) youth, aged 7 to 18 years. The findings indicate difficulty overriding incorrect attentional cues in ASD, particularly with non-social (arrow) cues relative to social (face) cues. The findings also show reduced competition in ASD from cues that remain on-screen. Furthermore, social attention, autism severity, and age were all predictors of competing cue processing. The results suggest that individuals with ASD may be biased towards speeded rather than accurate responding, and further, that reduced engagement with visual information may impede responses to visual attentional cues. Once attention is engaged, individuals with ASD appear to interpret directional cues as meaningful. These findings from a controlled, experimental paradigm were mirrored in results from an ecologically valid measure of social attention. Attentional difficulties may be exacerbated during the complex and dynamic experience of actual social interaction. Implications for intervention are discussed.
视觉注意力是社交互动不可或缺的一部分，也是其他领域（如语言）发展的关键基石。此外，非典型注意力（尤其是共同注意力）是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）最早的标志之一。本研究评估了7至18岁患有ASD的青少年和发育正常（TD）的青少年的低水平视觉注意力及其与社交注意力加工的关系。研究结果表明，ASD患者在克服不正确的注意力线索方面存在困难，尤其是相对于社交（面部）线索而言，在非社交（箭头）线索方面。研究结果还表明，ASD患者中来自屏幕上留存线索的竞争减少。此外，社交注意力、自闭症严重程度和年龄都是竞争线索加工的预测因素。结果表明，ASD患者可能倾向于快速反应而非准确反应，而且，对视觉信息的参与减少可能会妨碍对视觉注意力线索的反应。一旦注意力被吸引，ASD患者似乎会将方向线索解读为有意义的。这些来自受控实验范式的研究结果在社会注意力的生态有效测量结果中得到了反映。在实际社交互动的复杂动态体验中，注意力困难可能会加剧。本文讨论了干预的意义。
