In typical development, the unfolding of social and communicative skills hinges upon the ability to allocate and sustain attention toward people, a skill present moments after birth. Deficits in social attention have been well documented in autism, though the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood.In order to parse the factors that are responsible for limited social attention in toddlers with autism, we manipulated the context in which a person appeared in their visual field with regard to the presence of salient social (child-directed speech and eye contact) and nonsocial (distractor toys) cues for attention. Participants included 13- to 25-month-old toddlers with autism (autism; n = 54), developmental delay (DD; n = 22), and typical development (TD; n = 48). Their visual responses were recorded with an eye-tracker.In conditions devoid of eye contact and speech, the distribution of attention between key features of the social scene in toddlers with autism was comparable to that in DD and TD controls. However, when explicit dyadic cues were introduced, toddlers with autism showed decreased attention to the entire scene and, when they looked at the scene, they spent less time looking at the speaker's face and monitoring her lip movements than the control groups. In toddlers with autism, decreased time spent exploring the entire scene was associated with increased symptom severity and lower nonverbal functioning; atypical language profiles were associated with decreased monitoring of the speaker's face and her mouth.While in certain contexts toddlers with autism attend to people and objects in a typical manner, they show decreased attentional response to dyadic cues for attention. Given that mechanisms supporting responsivity to dyadic cues are present shortly after birth and are highly consequential for development of social cognition and communication, these findings have important implications for the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of limited social monitoring and identifying pivotal targets for treatment.

Katarzyna Chawarska

Suzanne Macari

Frederick Shic

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

《儿童心理学和精神病学杂志》（JCPP）是国际公认的涵盖儿童和青少年心理学和精神病学的领先期刊。 JCPP 在心理学、精神病学和相关学科发表最高质量的临床相关研究。凭借庞大且不断扩大的全球读者群，其覆盖范围包括关于儿童疾病的流行病学、诊断、心理治疗和精神药理学治疗、行为、认知、神经科学、神经生物学和遗传方面的研究。发表的文章包括实验、纵向和干预研究，特别是那些促进我们对发展性精神病理学的理解以及为理论和临床实践提供信息的文章。该杂志的一个重要功能是汇集来自不同观点、不同理论观点和不同学科的高质量实证研究、临床研究和评论。

The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines (JCPP) is an internationally recognized leading journal that focuses on child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry. JCPP publishes high-quality clinically relevant research across psychology, psychiatry, and related disciplines. With a large and growing global readership, it covers research on the epidemiology, diagnosis, psychotherapy, and psychopharmacological treatment of childhood disorders, as well as studies in behavior, cognition, neuroscience, neurobiology, and genetics. The journal features articles including experimental, longitudinal, and intervention studies, particularly those that enhance our understanding of developmental psychopathology and inform theoretical and clinical practice. One of the key functions of the journal is to bring together high-quality empirical research, clinical studies, and reviews from diverse perspectives, theoretical viewpoints, and disciplines.

《Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines》（JCPP）是国际公认的领先期刊，专注于儿童和青少年心理学及精神病学领域。JCPP发表高质量的临床相关研究，涵盖心理学、精神病学及相关学科。该期刊的读者群体庞大且不断扩大，研究内容包括儿童疾病的流行病学、诊断、心理治疗和精神药物治疗、行为、认知、神经科学、神经生物学及遗传学等方面。发表的文章包括实验研究、纵向研究和干预研究，尤其是那些有助于我们理解发展性精神病理学并为理论和临床实践提供信息的研究。该杂志的重要功能之一是汇集来自不同观点、理论和学科的高质量实证研究、临床研究和评论。

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines

Context modulates attention to social scenes in toddlers with autism

In toddlers with autism, decreased time spent exploring the entire scene was associated with increased symptom severity and lower nonverbal functioning; atypical language profiles were associated with decreased monitoring of the speaker's face and her mouth.

Category	Quartile
医学	1
医学, 精神病学	1
医学, 心理学	1
医学, 心理学发育	1

Context modulates attention to social scenes in toddlers with autism

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL	1