What is the effect of stimulus complexity on attention to repeating and changing information in Autism?

Abstract

Background Previous research has suggested that atypical attention in autism might be driven by a preference for sameness over novelty. There is also evidence of slower habituation to a repeating stimulus in autism. It is not known whether slower habituation is driven by atypically slower processing of repeating information or whether it is a manifestation of an attentional bias away from novelty towards sameness. Methods We adapted an existing eye-tracking task and measured eye movements to two streams of stimuli presented simultaneously, one each in the left and right sides of the screen. One stimulus repeated while the second stimulus changed across trials. We manipulated the complexity of the stimuli between three conditions: a simple shapes condition, a social (smiling faces) condition and a complex non-social condition (clocks with moving parts). Using the slope of change in the longest look duration to each stimulus over trials, we measured whether autistic features were associated with slower habituation (to the repeating stimulus) and/or reduced attention to novelty (changing stimulus) over trials, and whether these effects were more pronounced in conditions with higher stimulus complexity (social and non-social complex conditions) compared with low complexity (simple shapes condition). We presented the task to two independent samples of children: 7-15 years old children and adolescents (n=103) diagnosed with Autism, ADHD or co-occurring Autism and ADHD and neurotypical children (Study 1); neurotypical children (n=64) with varying levels of subclinical traits of Autism (Study 2). Results Across the two studies, autistic features were associated with positive slopes of change in look durations (longer looks over time) to the repeating stimulus and negative slopes (shorter looks over time) to the changing stimulus, only in conditions with higher stimulus complexity. Negative slopes to the changing stimulus in conditions of higher stimulus complexity was associated with higher severity of social interaction difficulties (in Study 1). Conclusions Reduced attention to novelty in autism might partly be driven by difficulties in processing more complex information, which might contribute to the development of social interaction difficulties in autism. Replication in larger samples and longitudinal research using younger age groups are recommended.

Early Learning in Autism as an Atypical Balance between Assimilation and Accommodation Processes

“…Novelty does not appear to stimulate the same degree of curiosity and exploration in autism that it does in typical development (Anckarsäter et al, 2006;Arora et al, 2021;Vivanti et al, 2018).…”

“…Autistic children often show increased attentional engagement with specific objects or parts of objects, and increased amount of time spent in repetitive objectoriented routines compared to their non-autistic peers (Fanning et al, 2021;McKinnon et al, 2019;Ozonoff et al, 2008). Additionally, experimental studies have documented that autistic preschoolers, unlike their peers with typical development or other neurodevelopmental conditions, do not show a preferential attention towards novel versus repeated stimuli (Arora et al, 2021;Vivanti et al, 2018).…”

“…Accommodation, on the other hand, appears to be less frequently used in this population. Novelty does not appear to stimulate the same degree of curiosity and exploration in autism that it does in typical development (Anckarsäter et al, 2006;Arora et al, 2021;Vivanti et al, 2018). Examination of children's play skills reveals that children on the autism spectrum tend to use schema that is immature compared to their most developed skills, while children with typical development at the same maturity level tend to spend more of their time (and thus appear to be experiencing more pleasure) on their most newly acquired skills (Kasari & Chang, 2014;Libby et al, 1998).…”

“…Autistic children often show increased attentional engagement with specific objects or parts of objects and increased amount of time spent in repetitive object-oriented routines compared to their nonautistic peers (Fanning et al, 2021;McKinnon et al, 2019;Ozonoff et al, 2008). Additionally, experimental studies have documented that autistic preschoolers, unlike their peers with typical development or other neurodevelopmental conditions, do not show preferential attention toward novel versus repeated stimuli (Arora et al, 2021;Vivanti et al, 2018). This attentional inclination toward nonsocial versus social stimuli and familiar versus novel stimuli reflect core characteristics of autism likely to alter the balance between accommodation and assimilation during early learning experiences by virtue of (a) decreasing opportunities to register and engage with novel situations that are discrepant from current skills and knowledge and (b) decreasing opportunities to bridge such discrepancies through the observation of adults who scaffold development of new skills.…”

A comparison of visual attention to pictures in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule in children and adolescents with ADHD and/or autism

“…A large proportion of the children recruited to the SAAND study also took part in this eye tracking study. Detailed methods and results from the SAAND study are reported elsewhere ( 24 , 28 , 29 ).…”