Brief report: attention effect on a measure of social perception.
Poor scores on social-perception tests may come from inattention, not social deficits, so screen for attention issues first.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave kids a short video test of social perception.
Some kids had autism, some had ADHD, and some were typical peers.
They watched clips and answered questions about people’s thoughts and feelings.
What they found
Both autism and ADHD groups scored lower than typical kids.
Kids who were more inattentive did worse, no matter their diagnosis.
The test scores seemed to reflect attention problems, not just social skill gaps.
How this fits with other research
Hou et al. (2024) extends this idea. They tracked eye movements and found that autistic kids with jumpy gaze also had weaker action prediction.
Shic et al. (2023) give you a quick tool: a five-minute eye-tracking task that separates autistic from typical kids by how much they look at faces.
Harrop et al. (2018) add a twist. Autistic girls kept typical face-looking, while autistic boys looked less. This means attention-social links can hide in mixed-sex samples.
Why it matters
Before you label poor social-perception scores as a core autism deficit, check attention. Ask teachers about ADHD traits, watch the child during tasks, or run a short eye-tracking check. Boosting focus with seating, breaks, or self-monitoring may lift social test scores without direct social skills training.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A measure of social perception (CASP) was used to assess differences in social perception among typically developing children, children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), and children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Significant between-group differences were found in recognition of emotions in video, with children diagnosed with ADHD or ASD performing more poorly than controls on measures of knowledge of nonverbal cues and emotional expression. The number of inattention symptoms was found to be a significant contributor to poorer video interpretation across diagnostic groups. An effect of attention on poor social perception was found that may be unique to the ASD group. Clinicians may overestimate the social deficits of children with ASD if they also have symptoms of inattention, while researchers may need to control for the effects of inattention in their studies.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2008 · doi:10.1007/s10803-008-0570-x