20161
Exploring the Relationships Between Visual Preference for Biological Motion, Joint Attention Behaviors and Language Development in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Thursday, May 14, 2015: 5:30 PM-7:00 PM
Imperial Ballroom (Grand America Hotel)
M. Franchini1, H. Wood de Wilde1, B. Glaser2, E. Gentaz3, S. Eliez2 and M. Schaer1,4, (1)Office Médico-Pédagogique, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, (2)University of Geneva Medical School, Geneva, Switzerland, (3)Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, (4)Stanford Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Background:  

According to the social motivation theory in autism (reviewed in Chevallier et al., 2012), social-communication deficits observable in autism are partly explained by a lack of social orienting. Eye-tracking studies show promise to quantify social orienting, with reduced preference for biological motion being already observed in toddlers with autism from 14 months of age (Pierce et al., 2011). It is typically assumed that reduced social orienting reduces opportunity for learning. For instance, decreased attention to people is thought to impair joint attention behaviors, and may represent a barrier to further language development (e.g. Charman et al., 2003). The formal relationship between social orienting, following joint attention behaviors and language skills have however not been extensively examined to date.

Objectives:

We sought to explore the relationship between lack on biological motion in ASD, joint attention behaviors and language development in young children with autism. 

Methods:  

We recruited 25 children with ASD (mean age= 3.2 ± 1.2 years old), and 20 typically developing children (TD, mean age= 3.0 ± 1.5 years old).  Measures of initiation and response to joint attention were collected using the Early Social Communication Scale (ESCS, Mundy et al., 2003). Language development was quantified using the Psychoeducational Profile, 3rd version (PEP-3, Lansing et al., 2010) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition (Vineland-II, Sparrow et al., 2005). Finally, we quantified social orienting using an eye-tracking paradigm inspired from the one by Pierce and colleagues (2011), using a split screen with simultaneous biological motion and geometrical motion.

Results:  

Replicating results by Pierce et al, we found that, as a group, children with autism orient less on biological motion compared to TD (t=3.48, p=0.0012). Important heterogeneity was however observed in the ASD group. Part of this variance related with social communication. Indeed, orientation on biological motion in ASD correlated with initiation and response of joint attention behaviors in the ESCS (R=0.508, p=0.022; R=0.438, p=0.04). Response to joint attention further correlated with expressive language standard scores at the PEP-3 and at the Vineland-II (R=0.501, p=0.009; R=0.452, p=0.012).

Conclusions:  

Our results support the view that reduced orientation on biological motion has consequences on joint attention behaviors in children with ASD. The correlation between lack of response to joint attention and language outcome in children with ASD confirms the crucial role of joint attention in the development of communication in children with ASD. Future longitudinal studies are required to further understand whether social orienting and joint attention behaviors can serve as predictor of social and clinical outcome in autism.

See more of: Early Development (<48 months)
See more of: Early Development (< 48 months)