Three month old infants do not show preference for social images
Advisor Information
Anastasia Kyvelidou
Location
UNO Criss Library, Room 232
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
6-3-2015 1:15 PM
End Date
6-3-2015 1:30 PM
Abstract
The increasing occurrence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) creates a crucial need for clinicians to identify ASD-related deficits as early as possible. Currently, the typical age of diagnosis for ASD is around three years old. However, signs of atypical behavior have been documented retrospectively by parents as occurring earlier. Gaze behavior has been suggested as a useful indicator of developmental disruption in children with ASD. A method called the preference looking paradigm has been utilized successfully in toddlers as young as 14 months for identifying ASD, but it has not been tested in infants. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate gaze behavior in typically-developing infants at three months old before using this paradigm in infants at risk for ASD. Identifying early preferential looking differences in typically-developing infants may allow for an increased understanding of the underlying visual processes, the development of an early detection paradigm for autism, and the advancement of knowledge to develop treatment for autism. Five typically developing infants were examined at three months old. Each infant was shown a preferential looking paradigm with dynamic social images on one side and dynamic geometric images on the other side. Results indicated that none of the five infants displayed a preference for either social or geometric images. Instead, each participant focused between the two images. This is the first study to report that when 3- month-old infants are presented with dynamic social and geometric images they do not show a preference between the two.
Three month old infants do not show preference for social images
UNO Criss Library, Room 232
The increasing occurrence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) creates a crucial need for clinicians to identify ASD-related deficits as early as possible. Currently, the typical age of diagnosis for ASD is around three years old. However, signs of atypical behavior have been documented retrospectively by parents as occurring earlier. Gaze behavior has been suggested as a useful indicator of developmental disruption in children with ASD. A method called the preference looking paradigm has been utilized successfully in toddlers as young as 14 months for identifying ASD, but it has not been tested in infants. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate gaze behavior in typically-developing infants at three months old before using this paradigm in infants at risk for ASD. Identifying early preferential looking differences in typically-developing infants may allow for an increased understanding of the underlying visual processes, the development of an early detection paradigm for autism, and the advancement of knowledge to develop treatment for autism. Five typically developing infants were examined at three months old. Each infant was shown a preferential looking paradigm with dynamic social images on one side and dynamic geometric images on the other side. Results indicated that none of the five infants displayed a preference for either social or geometric images. Instead, each participant focused between the two images. This is the first study to report that when 3- month-old infants are presented with dynamic social and geometric images they do not show a preference between the two.