19098
Contextual Influences on Eccentric Viewing in Young Children with ASD
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether contextual factors might influence the frequency of EG in young children with ASD, and specifically the occurrence of DG.
Methods: 20 preschoolers with ASD mean age 4,8 years (3,7 to 6,4 years, SD= 10 months), mean non verbal IQ 106 (Leiter-VR range 87-131, SD= 12.86) were included in the study. All the children were diagnosed by expert clinicians according to DSM-IV criteria for ASD and standardized diagnostic instruments (ADOS and ADI-R). We observed the children in two video-recorded conditions: COND-1 (free play with toys); COND-2 (structured social interaction and free play with toys). Frequency of EG performed by the children towards 8 possible directions (up, up-left, up-right, lateral-left, lateral-right, down, down-left, down-right) were coded from the videos. The mean frequency of DG and of EG per minute in each condition were considered in the analysis.
Results: The results indicated that, in general, the mean frequency of EG performed by the children in COND-2 was significantly lower than in COND-1 (COND-1=6.33 [SD=3.66]; COND-2=9.12 [SD=4.11]; t=3.77, df=19, p=0.001). Specifically, DG were more frequent in COND-2 than in COND-1 (COND-1=0.98 [SD=0.90]; COND-2=2.47 [SD=1.34]; t=5.1, df=19, p<0.001).
Conclusions: The results indicated a significant effect of the context on the mean frequency of EG. In general, EG were significantly more frequent in the most stimulating condition, in which the children were playing with toys and interacting with the experimenter. Specifically, such a difference was mainly accounted by a higher frequency of DG, which were rare when the children were only playing with toys. These findings seem to confirm the possible function of DG in reducing sensory overload.
See more of: Cognition: Attention, Learning, Memory