An Examination of the Social Reponse of Children with Autism
Abstract
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lack the ability to engage with others and make correct social predictions. Therefore, they misinterpret cues and exhibit incorrect social responses. The study’s aim was to compare the response of children with neurotypical development and children with ASD when presented with a friendly social interaction stimulus. Neurotypical children and children with ASD were recruited from public events and educational programs. Data were collected using Tobii Pro Nano eye-tracking device to measure eye movement while children’s autism risk was assessed with the MCHAT tool. Eye-tracking data were analyzed using Tobii Pro lab and statistical data were analyzed using IBM SPSS V 26.1. The findings from the analyses indicate that the participants with ASD responded positively to the interaction between a human and friendly dog similar to the participants with neurotypical development. This demonstrates that participants with autism understood social interaction. On average, participants with neurotypical development had 3.41 ± .12 fixation events on the actress’ face and 8.41 ± .20 on the dog while participants with ASD had 2.20 ± .15 fixation events on the actress’ face and 4.41 ± .56 on the dog. There were no significant differences by group (p = 0.932) for total fixation duration on the objects. These gaze fixation statistics suggest that the participants with ASD understood the dog’s toy preference and were able to reciprocate the dog's choice. Children with ASD may be able to comprehend social interactions, but their information processing and response need to be better understood.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Gesulla Cavanaugh
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-5-2023 12:00 PM
End Date
4-6-2023 4:00 PM
An Examination of the Social Reponse of Children with Autism
Alvin Sherman Library
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lack the ability to engage with others and make correct social predictions. Therefore, they misinterpret cues and exhibit incorrect social responses. The study’s aim was to compare the response of children with neurotypical development and children with ASD when presented with a friendly social interaction stimulus. Neurotypical children and children with ASD were recruited from public events and educational programs. Data were collected using Tobii Pro Nano eye-tracking device to measure eye movement while children’s autism risk was assessed with the MCHAT tool. Eye-tracking data were analyzed using Tobii Pro lab and statistical data were analyzed using IBM SPSS V 26.1. The findings from the analyses indicate that the participants with ASD responded positively to the interaction between a human and friendly dog similar to the participants with neurotypical development. This demonstrates that participants with autism understood social interaction. On average, participants with neurotypical development had 3.41 ± .12 fixation events on the actress’ face and 8.41 ± .20 on the dog while participants with ASD had 2.20 ± .15 fixation events on the actress’ face and 4.41 ± .56 on the dog. There were no significant differences by group (p = 0.932) for total fixation duration on the objects. These gaze fixation statistics suggest that the participants with ASD understood the dog’s toy preference and were able to reciprocate the dog's choice. Children with ASD may be able to comprehend social interactions, but their information processing and response need to be better understood.
