Social Attention in ASD and TD Children

Dynamic Gaze Strategies in ASD Children During Social Interactions: An Eye-Tracking Investigation Under Intention-Congruent and -Incongruent Conditions

To examine whether the spatiotemporal organization of gaze strategies differs between children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children during a staged joint attention interaction, and to identify at which phase differences emerge.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); Joint Attention Impairment

Detailed Description

This cross-sectional observational study involved children with ASD and their typically developing (TD) peers freely viewing dynamic social interaction videos. The videos were segmented into four theory-driven phases: Introduction (scene establishment), Joint Attention (mapping another's gaze to an object preference), Intentional Comprehension (inferring the model's intention), and Emotional Feedback (evaluating outcomes that were either congruent or incongruent with the established preference). Participants' eye movements were recorded throughout using a remote eye-tracker.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 66

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Sichuan
    • Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 611731
      • School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) peers. ASD participants were recruited from a institution in Chengdu, China; TD participants were recruited from a local kindergarten. The sample covers an age range of approximately 2 to 10 years and includes both males and females， all of whom completed an eye-tracking free-viewing task of social interaction videos.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

- For ASD group: confirmed clinical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. For TD group: Typically developing children without any developmental or neurological disorders.

Both groups: Normal or corrected-to-normal vision, no color vision deficiencies, and legal guardian provided written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Failure to meet the study's group-specific screening cutoffs on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) Known genetic syndromes, significant hearing loss, or uncorrectable visual impairment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Group
Typically Developing (TD) Group

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of Total Fixation Duration on Human Faces during Entire Video	Percentage of total fixation duration on human faces was calculated as (total fixation duration on all face areas of interest / total fixation duration on the entire video) × 100. Fixation was defined as gaze maintained within a 1° visual angle for a minimum of 100 ms. This measure was compared between the ASD and TD groups.	During the full 27-second video presentation
Total Fixation Duration on Human Faces during Entire Video	Total fixation duration (in milliseconds) on human faces, calculated as the sum of all fixation durations that fell within face areas of interest (AOIs). This measure was compared between the ASD and TD groups.	During the full 27-second video presentation
Percentage of Total Fixation Duration on Human Faces During Phase 4 (Emotional Feedback) by Condition	Percentage of fixation duration on faces was calculated for the emotional feedback phase separately for Preference-congruent and Preference-incongruent trials. The interaction between Group (ASD vs. TD) and Condition (Congruent vs. Incongruent) was examined. Higher percentages indicate greater allocation of visual attention to faces during emotional feedback.	During seconds 22-27 of the video
Total Scanpath Length During Entire Video		During the full 27-second video presentation
Number of Gaze Shifts Between Face and Object Areas of Interest	The number of saccadic gaze shifts that cross between pre-defined face and object areas of interest (AOIs) was counted. This was taken as an index of attentional switching between social and non-social information.	During the full 27-second video presentation
Mean Distance of Fixation Points from the Center of the Face Area of Interest	For each fixation, the Euclidean distance (in degrees of visual angle) from its location to the centroid of the pre-defined face AOI was calculated. The mean of these distances across all fixations was then computed. Larger values indicate that gaze tended to fall farther from the faces, reflecting less attention to facial information.	During the full 27-second video presentation

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 22, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 27, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): March 27, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 6, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 6, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 13, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 6, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Eye tracking; Joint attention
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: UESTC-GazeLab-02

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No