THE FREQUENCY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SPONTANEOUS ATTENTION SHIFTS BETWEEN SOCIAL AND NONSOCIAL STIMULI IN AUTISTIC, TYPICALLY DEVELOPING, AND NONAUTISTIC DEVELOPMENTALLY DELAYED INFANTS

Spontaneous shifts of attention were observed in autistic, typically d eveloping, and nonautistic developmentally delayed infants. Three type s of attention shifting behaviour were observed; (1) between an object and another object, (2) between an object and a person, and (3) betwe en a person and another person. The two control groups shifted attenti on more frequently between an object and a person than between an obje ct and another object or between a person and another person. The infa nts with autism showed a different pattern, shifting attention between an object and another object more than any other type of shift. Furth ermore, infants with autism showed fewer shifts of attention between a n object and a person, and between person and person, than did the two control groups. They also spent less time overall looking at people a nd looked more briefly at people and for longer durations at objects, compared to the two control groups. These results indicate an abnormal ity in social orientation in autism even at the early age of 20 months .