Eye-Tracking Analysis of Autistic Children's Attention to Social Stimuli

Autistic children have severe communication and social interaction disorders. With appropriate social stimulating learning materials, game-based e-learning intervention is a new approach to improve social interaction skills of autistic children. At the same time, learning analysis of autistic children is also necessary. In this study, eye-tracking technology was used to analyze the visual attention characteristics of autistic children watching different forms and complexities of social stimuli. 23 autistic children were recruited as research participants, using cartoon and real social stimuli as experimental materials. The multi-factor within-subject design was used. The results showed that autistic children paid more attention to cartoon stimuli than to real stimuli. When the complexity increased, they spent more time looking at the eyes in cartoon stimuli, while the fixation duration in real stimuli became shorter. Autistic children gave priority attention to the mouths rather than the eyes. The results of this research can provide theoretical support for game-based e-learning intervention, and provide guidance for the development of game-based e-learning packages and the design of interventional learning materials.