MEASURES OF IMPLICIT SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION BY VISUAL SCANNING IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Background: In previous research, we measured whether individuals with autism attribute social meaning to ambiguous visual information (the actions of animated geometric shapes). While such attributions were common among typically-developing peers, individuals with autism were significantly impaired. In another study, we measured visual scanning by individuals with autism while watching scenes of social interaction; their visual scanning showed evidence of altered visual salience and reduced social monitoring. In the present study, we used scenes from the classic children’s film, The Red Balloon, to bring these two lines of research together. We defined a series of experiments in the film scenes when a visual fixation to a particular location at a particular time would occur only as a consequence of a viewer’s attribution of intentionality to the film’s main characters, a boy and his friend, the red balloon. Because the agency of the balloon is dynamic during the film—at times an ordinary balloon, at times an animate character—appropriate social monitoring is an indication of social attribution.

Objectives: To study social monitoring as a measure of implicit social attribution in individuals with autism.

Methods: School-age children with autism and matched, typically-developing peers watched scenes from The Red Balloon while eye-tracking data were collected. During scenes of interaction between the balloon and human characters, we measured social monitoring, i.e. when the viewer looks between characters to gather social information.

Results: Preliminary analyses reveal that social monitoring of individuals with autism fails to anticipate actions and reactions of the film’s characters. Individuals with autism appear to be most impaired when the actions of others are dependent upon the balloon as an animate, intentional being.

Conclusions: Information gained from social monitoring is integral for successful adaptive action in everyday life. The present study offers a useful and non-verbal method of assessing this ability.