Propensity to imitate in autism is not modulated by the model's gaze direction: an eye-tracking study.
Eye contact does not increase imitation in autism, so model actions with simple movements instead of social gaze prompts.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Vivanti et al. (2014) watched preschoolers with autism while they copied simple hand motions. Some motions were shown with the model looking straight at the child. Other motions were shown with the model looking away.
Eye-tracking gear recorded where each child looked. The team then counted how often kids copied the motion under each gaze condition.
What they found
Kids with autism copied the motion just as often when the model looked away as when the model stared straight at them. Typically developing kids copied more when the model used direct eye contact.
In short, eye gaze did not boost imitation for the autism group.
How this fits with other research
Muth et al. (2014) saw the same blank response to eye contact in older kids. Their teens with autism did not follow another person's gaze better after seeing that person make eye contact. Together the studies show gaze cues carry little social weight across ages in autism.
Chetcuti et al. (2019) looked at the flip side. They found that preschoolers with autism did copy better when the action itself was simple, no matter how friendly or aloof the model acted. Pair that with Giacomo's result and you get a clear rule: simplify the movement, not the social smile.
Freeth et al. (2019) extend the pattern to adults. Autistic adults looked less at a conversation partner's face during direct eye contact. The three papers line up: direct gaze does not help and may even reduce social attention in autism.
Why it matters
Stop waiting for 'look at me' to work. When you model a new skill, keep the action short and easy to see. Use clear hands-only demos or video clips with the face turned slightly away. Save your energy for breaking the task into small motor steps instead of chasing eye contact.
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Record a short video model of the target skill with the actor looking slightly off-camera and post it on a tablet for the student to copy.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show a diminished propensity to imitate others' actions, as well as a diminished sensitivity and responsivity to others' communicative cues, such as a direct gaze. However, it is not known whether failure to appreciate the communicative value of a direct gaze is associated with imitation abnormalities in this population. In this eye-tracking study, we investigated how 25 preschoolers with ASD, compared with 25 developmental and chronological age-matched children, imitate actions that are associated with a model's direct gaze versus averted gaze. We found that the model's direct gaze immediately prior to the demonstration increased the attention to the model and the propensity to imitate the demonstrated action in children without ASD. In contrast, preschoolers with ASD showed a similar propensity to look at the model's face and to imitate the demonstrated actions across the direct gaze and the averted gaze conditions. These data indicate that atypical imitation in ASD might be linked to abnormal processing of the model's communicative signals (such as a direct gaze) that modulate imitative behaviours in individuals without ASD. Autism Res 2014, 7: 392-399. © 2014 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2014 · doi:10.1002/aur.1376