Eye-Tracking in Infants and Young Children at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of Visual Stimuli in Experimental Paradigms

Eye-tracking represents a sensitive, direct measure of gaze allocation and goal-directed looking behaviors that correspond to visual information processing. Clear definitions and standardization of research protocols to document the utility and feasibility of these methods are warranted. This systematic review provides an account of stimuli dimensions and experimental paradigms used in eye-tracking research for young children at risk for ASD published from 2005 through 2019. This review identifies variability in eye-tracking protocols and heterogeneity of stimuli used for eye-tracking as factors that undermine the value of eye-tracking as an objective, reliable screening tool. We underscore the importance of sharing eye-tracking stimuli to enhance replicability of findings and more importantly the need to develop a bank of publicly available, validated stimuli.