Feng Tianqi, Sun Binbin, Yang Yulan, Wei Zhen, Zhao Shuo
School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, China.
Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Women and Children's Medical Center, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, 518040, Guangdong, China.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 Aug 22. doi: 10.1007/s10803-025-07020-6.
Detecting another person's gaze direction is essential for social interaction, as it reveals their attention, emotions, and intentions. Although nonverbal behavioral recognition anomalies are a defining feature of early development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), research on their sensitivity to detecting others' gaze directions remains inconclusive. Furthermore, the correlation between this sensitivity and autism-related traits is not clear enough. This study employed a computerized gaze direction adaptation task presenting direct gaze (0°) and different angles of avoidance gaze (4°, 8°, 12°) to children in a simulated social context. Participants included 44 children. The results found that when presented with photographs of faces at 0° and a subtle averted gaze at 4°, no significant differences in accuracy or reaction times were observed between children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children. However, when the angle of gaze avoidance was 8° and 12°, children with ASD demonstrated lower accuracy in discerning the direction of another person's gaze compared to TD children, although their response time remained unaffected. Additionally, at a gaze angle of 12°, a negative correlation emerged between gaze-direction accuracy and autism-related trait severity in the ASD group. These findings suggest that children with ASD exhibit heightened sensitivity to gaze and are more likely to confuse direct and averted gaze than children with TD. This study addresses a gap in previous research and provides more detailed insights into how gaze perception contributes to impaired social interactions in ASD.
检测他人的注视方向对于社交互动至关重要，因为它能揭示他人的注意力、情绪和意图。尽管非言语行为识别异常是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童早期发育的一个决定性特征，但关于他们检测他人注视方向的敏感性的研究尚无定论。此外，这种敏感性与自闭症相关特征之间的相关性还不够明确。本研究采用了一种计算机化的注视方向适应任务，在模拟社交情境中向儿童呈现直接注视（0°）和不同角度的回避注视（4°、8°、12°）。参与者包括44名儿童。结果发现，当呈现0°的面部照片和4°的轻微回避注视时，ASD儿童和发育正常（TD）儿童在准确性或反应时间上没有观察到显著差异。然而，当注视回避角度为8°和12°时，与TD儿童相比，ASD儿童在辨别他人注视方向时的准确性较低，尽管他们的反应时间没有受到影响。此外，在12°的注视角度下，ASD组的注视方向准确性与自闭症相关特征严重程度之间出现了负相关。这些发现表明，与TD儿童相比，ASD儿童对注视表现出更高的敏感性，并且更容易混淆直接注视和回避注视。本研究填补了以往研究的空白，并为注视感知如何导致ASD患者社交互动受损提供了更详细的见解。
