Furthermore, future research would benefit from exploring the impact of level of autistic functioning and intellectual abilities on the strategic use and prevalence of gaze aversion (using a different paradigm from that applied here where it was necessary to constrain recruitment to relatively high functioning individuals due to task demands).
But another transplant, Willie Mullins, 37, said he never understood the tacit, near-universal strategy of gaze aversion.
One study reported that infant macaques looked less at the direct-gaze faces of monkeys than at their averted-gaze faces, showing clear evidence of gaze aversion [9], whereas another study reported the opposite results using a human face [31].
Critically, it is important that the current study be used as groundwork for exploring the developmental trajectory of gaze aversion behaviours in atypical development.
Additionally, there was no significant correlation between patterns of gaze aversion and chronological age or verbal ability in the TD matched group (ps >.05).
Further research should take forward some of the issues highlighted here to enhance our understanding of the nature, occurrence and consequences of gaze aversion in these neuro-developmental disorders.
The length and proportion of gaze aversion (away from the face) during each phase of the interaction formed the dependent variable of secondary interest to the study (being used to confirm adherence to experimental demands).
For example, temporary HR increases in response to an oncoming stranger can be observed within a few beats (Waters, Matas, & Sroufe, 1975), and phasic changes during periods of gaze aversion are observed within a similar timeframe (Field, 1981).
There was a significant positive correlation between the amount of gaze aversion during the thinking phase and task accuracy in the At Will condition for both the individuals with ASD (r(19) =.45, p =.054) and the TD matched comparison group (r(19) =.52, p <.05).
While there is a lack of existing published data of this nature for individuals who are developing atypically, recent research in our lab has shown increases of gaze aversion while thinking (compared to speaking and listening) when participants with ASD and WS describe a cartoon clip they have watched to an interlocutor, thus involving a more social interaction.
