The Influence Of Autism Traits On Eye Contact Effect:Evidences From Eye Tracking And Physiological Arousal

Eye contact effect was defined as perceived direct gaze,eye gaze,or eye contact,as well the concurrent or immediately following cognitive processing and behavioral responses.Studies had reported an atypical pattern of eye contact in Autism Spectrum Disorders(ASD).Moreover,This atypical pattern of eye contact was currently included in standardized diagnostic criteria in the DSM-IV-TR(American Psychiatric Association)and the ICD-10(World Health Organization).The Current study found that individuals with higher scores on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient(AQ)was moderately similar to the ASD on the brain functions,symptoms,personality traits etc..Especially,Since the concept of "Autism traits " was introduced,there was a new field on the studies of the ASD and the typically developed adults.Base on the studies of the eye contact on the individuals with ASD,we investigated how autism traits impacted on the eye contact effects.In order to explore the effect of autism traits to the processing of face with different gaze directions,69 volunteers from the Minnan Normal University Participated in the study 1,They are divided into two groups based on the average of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient(AQ)scale(37 participant above the average and 32 participant below the average).24 facial pictures with direct gaze or averted gaze were required to view,in which Skin conductance response(SCR)and eye-tracking data were collected in time.Further,Study 2 investigated the effect of eye contact from the individuals with different AQ scale,The participants were asked to view 24 pictures with only eyes,which match with 24 facial pictures,and duly collected eye-tracking data and SCR.Moreover,All dates from study 1 and study 2 were performed integrated analysis in study 3 to survey the regulating effect of the social information from the context of faces between autism traits and eye contact.We found that:(1)The direct gaze ware preferentially processed,that is to say,the Observation Length of direct gaze ware fewer than those of averted gaze on the typically developed adults,which including the individuals with higher and lower AQ scale,and there was a high physiological arousal;(2)There was a lower emotional activation on the individuals with high AQ scale when only eyes presented,and no difference on the groups when the whole face appeared;(3)There was no significant difference on the face or eye processing between the individuals with higher and lower AQ scale;(4)The Fixation Length or Observation Length of the direct gaze was associated with emotional arousal on the individuals with low AQ score,but no relevance on the individuals with high AQ scale;(5)The difference of eye contact effect between two groups was greater when the whole faceappeared than those when only eyes presented,Among this,The electrodermal change rates was the best index that could adequately distinguish two groups.