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Attention to Faces in Williams Syndrome

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Abstract

Williams syndrome (WS) is associated with distinct social behaviours. One component of the WS social phenotype is atypically prolonged face fixation. This behaviour co-exists with attention difficulties. Attention is multi-faceted and may impact on gaze behaviour in several ways. Four experiments assessed (i) attention capture by faces, (ii) interference from facial stimuli, (iii) face bias, and (iv) attention disengagement. Individuals with WS were compared to typically developing participants of comparable nonverbal ability and chronological age. The first three experiments revealed no atypicality of attention to faces in WS. However, in experiment 4 there was a suggestion that individuals with WS (compared to those developing typically) found it much more time consuming to disengage from faces than objects. The results are discussed in terms of attention abnormalities and possible face disengagement difficulties in WS.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by a grant from The Nuffield Foundation to DR entitled ‘The role of attention mechanisms in face gaze associated with Williams syndrome’. We are grateful to the Williams syndrome Foundation for their support and to all the children and adolescents who participated in the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Ridley Building 1, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Deborah M. Riby, Nicola Jones & Vicki Bruce

  2. Adult Learning Disabilities Services, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, Morpeth, UK

    Philippa H. Brown

  3. Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Lucy J. Robinson

  4. Department of Psychology, Stirling University, Stirling, UK

    Stephen R. H. Langton

  5. Division of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Leigh M. Riby

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  1. Deborah M. Riby
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  2. Nicola Jones
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  3. Philippa H. Brown
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  4. Lucy J. Robinson
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  5. Stephen R. H. Langton
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  6. Vicki Bruce
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  7. Leigh M. Riby
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Correspondence to Deborah M. Riby.

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Riby, D.M., Jones, N., Brown, P.H. et al. Attention to Faces in Williams Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 41, 1228–1239 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1141-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1141-5

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