Summary: Researchers report that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) develop distinct visual attention patterns compared with typically developing children, tending to focus more on non-social elements—objects, textures and irregularities—than on faces and social interactions.
A longitudinal eye-tracking study in which children watched short cartoons showed that, unlike typically developing peers who converge toward similar social attention patterns with age, children with ASD gravitate toward individualized, non-social visual preferences. These divergent developmental trajectories highlight the value of early interventions that specifically target social attention to support social development in autistic children.
Tailored, early support that encourages attention to social cues may help align developmental pathways and improve daily functioning for some children with ASD.
Key Facts:
- Researchers used eye-tracking to compare where 166 boys with ASD and 51 typically developing (TD) boys, aged 2–7, directed their gaze while freely viewing a short cartoon, collecting repeated measurements over time.
- Typically developing children showed increasing, synchronized interest in social elements of scenes (faces, interactions). Children with ASD showed growing interest in non-social details and developed more idiosyncratic visual preferences instead of a shared social focus.
- Children with ASD whose gaze patterns more closely resembled TD peers tended to have better cognitive and everyday functioning. The findings support early clinical interventions that explicitly target social attention.
Source: University of Geneva
Background
From birth, humans are predisposed to attend to social information—faces, biological movement and social interactions—which helps infants learn from and connect with others. That basic social attention drives exploration and sets the foundation for language, play and complex social skills. In many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, this natural tuning to social signals is disrupted. ASD is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition marked by restricted, repetitive behaviors and varying degrees of difficulty with communication and social interaction.
Study design and methods
A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) used an eye-tracking system that records gaze in real time to examine how children visually explore social scenes. The study tested only boys to reduce sample variability. Each participant watched a three-minute, widely known cartoon featuring a little donkey placed in varied social situations. The cartoon was presented without instructions so that children could freely view and explore the scenes.
Researchers collected longitudinal gaze data as the children were repeatedly tested across ages between two and seven years. This approach allowed the team to track developmental changes in visual attention over time rather than relying on a single snapshot.
Findings: desynchronised development of social attention in ASD
Typically developing children tended to focus on the social aspects of the cartoon—faces and interactions—and showed increasing synchronisation in where they looked as they aged. In contrast, children with ASD did not converge on the same social cues. Instead, they increasingly attended to non-social elements like objects, textures and scene irregularities, and each child with ASD developed a more idiosyncratic pattern of visual preference.
The divergence was most pronounced during moments that depicted social interaction between characters and was stronger in children with lower developmental or functional levels. The researchers found that basic visual properties of the animations did not explain the increased divergence—suggesting the effect stems from differences in social attention rather than low-level visual attraction.
Importantly, children with ASD whose gaze patterns were more similar to TD children performed better on measures of everyday functioning and cognition. Moreover, the way a child visually explores social scenes can help predict later social difficulties, underscoring the potential clinical value of eye-tracking assessments.
Implications for early intervention
The study’s authors argue that social attention is a promising target for very early therapeutic interventions in autism. If autistic children do not show early interest in social interactions, they may become progressively less engaged with social information, widening developmental gaps. Interventions that actively encourage attention to faces and social scenes during critical early years could therefore help redirect developmental trajectories.
The UNIGE team plans to apply their eye-tracking method to evaluate children who have received the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), an intensive behavioral intervention designed to improve communication through playful social interactions. Since 2012, over a hundred children under three in Geneva have benefited from ESDM, and researchers hope the eye-tracking approach will clarify how such interventions influence social attention and developmental outcomes.
About this autism and social neuroscience research news
Author: Antoine Guenot
Source: University of Geneva
Contact: Antoine Guenot – University of Geneva
Image credit: Neuroscience News
Original research (open access): “Unraveling the developmental dynamic of visual exploration of social interactions in autism” by Nada Kojovic et al., published in eLife. The study presents longitudinal eye-tracking evidence for divergent and increasingly idiosyncratic visual exploration of social scenes in children with ASD compared with typically developing peers.
Abstract
Unraveling the developmental dynamic of visual exploration of social interactions in autism
Atypical deployment of social gaze is present early in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but the developmental dynamics behind this pattern are not well characterized. Using a data-driven approach and longitudinal eye-tracking while children freely viewed a short animated movie, the authors identified divergent, moment-to-moment gaze patterns in children with ASD compared to typically developing peers. The divergence was most marked during social interactions and increased over childhood, becoming more idiosyncratic—especially in children with lower developmental and functional levels. Basic visual features of the scenes did not explain these differences. The findings support targeting social attention early in clinical treatment strategies.