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Chen T, Helminen TM, Linnunsalo S, Hietanen JK. Autonomic and facial electromyographic responses to watching eyes. Iperception 2024; 15:20416695231226059. [PMID: 38268784 PMCID: PMC10807318 DOI: 10.1177/20416695231226059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2024] Open
Abstract
We measured participants' psychophysiological responses and gaze behavior while viewing a stimulus person's direct and averted gaze in three different conditions manipulating the participants' experience of being watched. The results showed that skin conductance responses and heart rate deceleration responses were greater to direct than averted gaze only in the condition in which the participants had the experience of being watched by the other individual. In contrast, gaze direction had no effects on these responses when the participants were manipulated to believe that the other individual could not watch them or when the stimulus person was presented in a pre-recorded video. Importantly, the eye tracking measures showed no differences in participants' looking behavior between these stimulus presentation conditions. The results of facial electromyography responses suggested that direct gaze elicited greater zygomatic and periocular responses than averted gaze did, independent of the presentation condition. It was concluded that the affective arousal and attention-orienting indexing autonomic responses to eye contact are driven by the experience of being watched. In contrast, the facial responses seem to reflect automatized affiliative responses which can be elicited even in conditions in which seeing another's direct gaze does not signal that the self is being watched.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingji Chen
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Terhi M Helminen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Samuli Linnunsalo
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Jari K Hietanen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
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Dindar K, Loukusa S, Helminen TM, Mäkinen L, Siipo A, Laukka S, Rantanen A, Mattila ML, Hurtig T, Ebeling H. Social-Pragmatic Inferencing, Visual Social Attention and Physiological Reactivity to Complex Social Scenes in Autistic Young Adults. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 52:73-88. [PMID: 33638804 PMCID: PMC8732855 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-04915-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
This study examined social-pragmatic inferencing, visual social attention and physiological reactivity to complex social scenes. Participants were autistic young adults (n = 14) and a control group of young adults (n = 14) without intellectual disability. Results indicate between-group differences in social-pragmatic inferencing, moment-level social attention and heart rate variability (HRV) reactivity. A key finding suggests associations between increased moment-level social attention to facial emotion expressions, better social-pragmatic inferencing and greater HRV suppression in autistic young adults. Supporting previous research, better social-pragmatic inferencing was found associated with less autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katja Dindar
- Research Unit of Logopedics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, PO Box 1000, 90014, Oulu, Finland.
| | - Soile Loukusa
- Research Unit of Logopedics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, PO Box 1000, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Terhi M Helminen
- Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Leena Mäkinen
- Research Unit of Logopedics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, PO Box 1000, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Antti Siipo
- Department of Educational Sciences and Teacher Education, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Seppo Laukka
- Learning Research Laboratory, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Antti Rantanen
- Learning Research Laboratory, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Marja-Leena Mattila
- PEDEGO Research Unit, Clinic of Child Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oulu University Hospital, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Tuula Hurtig
- PEDEGO Research Unit, Clinic of Child Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oulu University Hospital, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Hanna Ebeling
- PEDEGO Research Unit, Clinic of Child Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oulu University Hospital, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Kylliäinen A, Häkkinen S, Eränen S, Rantanen K, Ebeling H, Bölte S, Helminen TM. Social competence group intervention (SOCO) for children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study. Scand J Psychol 2020; 61:835-845. [PMID: 32779231 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
This study aimed to describe concept of social competence as a theoretical background for social skills group intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A model of social competence comprised of three components: social skills, social performance, and social adjustment. We also examined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the manualized Social Competence group intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (SOCO) using a variety of outcome measures. The nine-month intervention included children groups, parental support groups and co-operation with teachers. A pilot study involved 23 children aged 7 to 12 years (n = 16 intervention, n = 7 control) and intervention outcomes were measured with questionnaires for parents and teachers, neuropsychological tests, and observations. The parents of the intervention group reported improvements in social skills and social adjustment, whereas the teachers reported increases in social performance. Findings also indicated that affect recognition skills, social overtures, and reactions to peers were improved in the intervention group. Although the evidence of the pilot study should be considered as preliminary, it gives some indication of the feasibility of the SOCO group intervention and supports the usability of the theoretical background and approach for multiple outcome measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anneli Kylliäinen
- Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Satu Häkkinen
- Ludus Oy Tutkimus ja kuntoutuspalvelut, Mäkitorpantie 3 B, Helsinki, FI-00620, Finland
| | - Sanelma Eränen
- Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Kati Rantanen
- Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.,Department of Pediatrics, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Hanna Ebeling
- Pedego Research Unit, Clinic of Child Psychiatry, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Finland
| | - Sven Bölte
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND), Division of Neuropsychiatry, Center for Psychiatry Research Karolinska Institutet & Region Stockholm, Sweden.,Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Region Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Terhi M Helminen
- Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
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Hietanen JK, Helminen TM, Kiilavuori H, Kylliäinen A, Lehtonen H, Peltola MJ. Your attention makes me smile: Direct gaze elicits affiliative facial expressions. Biol Psychol 2018; 132:1-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2017] [Revised: 11/05/2017] [Accepted: 11/05/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Helminen TM, Leppänen JM, Eriksson K, Luoma A, Hietanen JK, Kylliäinen A. Atypical physiological orienting to direct gaze in low-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res 2017; 10:810-820. [PMID: 28244277 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Revised: 11/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Reduced use of eye contact is a prominent feature in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It has been proposed that direct gaze does not capture the attention of individuals with ASD. Experimental evidence is, however, mainly restricted to relatively high-functioning school-aged children or adults with ASD. This study investigated whether 2-5-year-old low-functioning children with severe ASD differ from control children in orienting to gaze stimuli, as measured with the heart rate deceleration response. Responses were measured to computerized presentations of dynamic shifts of gaze direction either toward (direct) or away (averted) from the observing child. The results showed a significant group by gaze direction interaction effect on heart rate responses (permuted P = .004), reflecting a stronger orienting response to direct versus averted gaze in typically developing (N = 17) and developmentally delayed (N = 16) children but not in children with ASD (N = 12). The lack of enhanced orienting response to direct gaze in the ASD group was not caused by a lack of looking at the eye region, as confirmed by eye tracking. The results suggest that direct gaze is not a socially salient, attention-grabbing signal for low-functioning children with ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 810-820. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terhi M Helminen
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland
| | | | - Kai Eriksson
- Department of Pediatric Neurology and Tampere Center for Child Health Research, School of Medicine, 33014 University of Tampere, and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Arto Luoma
- School of Management, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland
| | - Jari K Hietanen
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland
| | - Anneli Kylliäinen
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland
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Abstract
We investigated performance in a visuospatial discrimination task and selective attention task (Stroop task) while a live person's direct or averted gaze was presented as a task-irrelevant contextual stimulus. Based on previous research, we expected that response times to peripherally presented targets (Experiment 1) and to the Stroop stimuli (Experiment 2) would be longer in the context of direct versus averted gaze. Contrary to our expectations, the direct gaze context resulted in faster discrimination of visual targets and faster performance in the Stroop task compared with the averted gaze context. We propose that the observed results are explained by enhanced arousal elicited by genuine eye contact. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
- Jari K Hietanen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere
| | - Aki Myllyneva
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere
| | - Terhi M Helminen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere
| | - Pessi Lyyra
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingji Chen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
| | - Terhi M. Helminen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
| | - Jari K. Hietanen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
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Helminen TM, Pasanen TP, Hietanen JK. Learning under your gaze: the mediating role of affective arousal between perceived direct gaze and memory performance. Psychological Research 2015; 80:159-71. [DOI: 10.1007/s00426-015-0649-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2014] [Accepted: 01/24/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Helminen TM, Kaasinen SM, Hietanen JK. Eye contact and arousal: The effects of stimulus duration. Biol Psychol 2011; 88:124-30. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2011] [Revised: 06/16/2011] [Accepted: 07/07/2011] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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