Eye contact in children's social interactions: What is normal behaviour?

Most remediation programmes for children with autism include training of eye contact behaviours, yet little data exist regarding levels of gaze behaviours in the social interactions of children without developmental disorders. Three behaviours were conventionally defined: (a) eye gaze, (b) joint att...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of intellectual & developmental disability Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 207 - 216
Main Author Arnold, Randye J. Semple, Ivan Beale, Claire M. Fletcher-Flinn, Angela
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Informa UK Ltd 01.01.2000
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Asperger's syndrome
Autism
Autism spectrum disorders
Behavior
Behaviour
Behaviour patterns
Behaviour standards
Child development
Children
Eye contact
Grade 2
Grade 5
Interpersonal relationship
Language Acquisition
Social psychology
Statistics
Vision
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Summary:Most remediation programmes for children with autism include training of eye contact behaviours, yet little data exist regarding levels of gaze behaviours in the social interactions of children without developmental disorders. Three behaviours were conventionally defined: (a) eye gaze, (b) joint attention, and (c) object engagement. Normative data were collected from children aged 5 to 10, who were observed in child-to-child social interactions (small playgroups). Joint attention was positively related to age and type of activity engaged in. Object engagement was consistently high across all age groups. Eye gaze was low relative to joint attention and object engagement, and was not significantly related to age. Eye gaze, as observed in small group interactions, was found to be significantly less than what has been reported for adult-child and adult-adult dyads. The implications of these findings for remedial training are discussed. Eye Contact in Children's Social Interactions: What is Normal Behaviour?
Bibliography:Refereed article. Includes bibliographical references.
Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability; v.25 n.3 p.207-216; September 2000
Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, v.25, no.3, Sept 2000: (207)-216
ISSN:1366-8250
1326-978X
1469-9532
DOI:10.1080/13269780050144271