Social information processing in preschool children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Ziv et al. (2014) watched preschoolers with autism solve social puzzles. They compared the kids to same-age peers without autism.

The team looked at how the children read faces, picked goals, and chose what to do next. They also counted hitting, yelling, and running away.

The autism group missed most social cues. They also showed more hitting and running away than peers.

Surprise: among the autism kids, the ones who scored best on the social test were not the best behaved. Better skill did not mean better play.

Stichter et al. (2009) saw the same pattern in older boys who also had intellectual disability. Both studies show kids with autism pick angry cues faster than friendly ones.

Pan et al. (2025) used eye trackers and heart wires. They found preschoolers with autism look less at faces and stay calm when they should be excited. Yair used story pictures; the new tools back up the old story.

Lance et al. (2014) seems to clash. They showed that when you make sure the child looks at your face, the child can understand your goal. Yair never checked where the child looked, so the "better" answers may have been lucky guesses, not true skill.

Do not trust good scores on social-cognition tests alone. A child who aces the picture game may still shove a peer for touching his toy. Watch real play. Teach friendly reactions, not just face naming. Start early, before the negative bias hardens.