The role of gaze direction in face memory in autism spectrum disorder.
Eye contact does not help autistic kids remember faces, so plan teaching supports that use other visual cues.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers showed kids two sets of face photos. Some faces looked straight at the camera. Others looked to the side.
Later the kids tried to pick out the faces they had seen. Some kids had autism. Some were typically developing.
What they found
Typical kids remembered the direct-gaze faces better. Kids with autism remembered both kinds the same.
Eye contact gave no memory boost to the autism group.
How this fits with other research
Macinska et al. (2022) saw the same pattern with facial expressions. Autistic people recalled happy, angry, and neutral faces equally. Direct gaze again added no extra memory punch.
Kikuchi et al. (2022) seems to disagree. They found typical heart-rate slowing to live eye contact in autistic teens. The difference: Yukiko used real people, not photos. Live gaze may grab attention even when static gaze does not help memory.
Walley et al. (2005) set the stage. Adults with autism treated eye arrows and eye gaze the same. No special social value was given to eyes.
Why it matters
Do not count on eye contact to help clients recognize staff or peers. Use extra cues like name tags, colored shirts, or distinct hairstyles. If you need a child to remember a face, teach them to look for non-eye features.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We tested the hypothesis that the direction of gaze of target faces may play a role in reported face recognition deficits in those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In previous studies, typically developing children and adults better remembered faces in which the eyes were gazing directly at them compared with faces in which the eyes were averted. In the current study, high-functioning children and adolescents with an ASD and age- and IQ-matched typically developing controls were shown a series of pictures of faces in a study phase. These pictures were of individuals whose gaze was either directed straight ahead or whose gaze was averted to one side. We tested the memory for these study faces in a recognition task in which the faces were shown with their eyes closed. The typically developing group better remembered the direct-gaze faces, whereas the ASD participants did not show this effect. These results imply that there may be an important link between gaze direction and face recognition abilities in ASD.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2013 · doi:10.1002/aur.1292