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The influences of Face Inversion and Facial Expression on Sensitivity to Eye Contact in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Authors:
Vida, M.V., Maurer, D., CALDER, A.J., Rhodes, G, Walsh, J., Pachai, M.V., Rutherford, M.D.
Reference:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(11), 2536-2548
Year of publication:
2013
CBU number:
7644
Abstract:
We examined the influences of face inversion and facial expression on sensitivity to eye
contact in high-functioning adults with and without an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Participants judged the direction of gaze of angry, fearful, and neutral faces. In the typical
group only, the range of directions of gaze leading to the perception of eye contact (the
cone of gaze) was narrower for upright than inverted faces. In both groups, the cone of
gaze was wider for angry faces than for fearful or neutral faces. These results suggest that
in high-functioning adults with ASD, the perception of eye contact is not tuned to be finer
for upright than inverted faces, but that information is nevertheless integrated across
expression and gaze direction.
