Debbie Riby | Durham University (original) (raw)

Papers by Debbie Riby

Developmental Psychology Forum, Apr 1, 2022

Developmental Psychology Forum

Although faces are more or less symmetrical, we frequently show a left gaze bias (LGB) to faces i... more Although faces are more or less symmetrical, we frequently show a left gaze bias (LGB) to faces implicating right hemisphere processing and a Right Hemisphere Dominance model for face/emotion processing. Interestingly, individuals with Autism, whose behaviour is characterised by social withdrawal, have previously been reported to show a lack of right hemisphere face dominance. We report data from eye tracking studies exploring face gaze bias in the developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS). Preliminary gaze analyses indicate that WS individuals show an atypically extreme LGB when evaluating emotional expressions. This is particularly interesting given the hypersociable and emotionally sensitive profile associated with the disorder and the implications of these data will be discussed.

Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2014

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2013

The developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) is characterised by a distinctive cognitive pro... more The developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) is characterised by a distinctive cognitive profile and an intriguing social phenotype. Individuals with the disorder are often highly social engaging in interactions with familiar and unfamiliar people and once in those interactions they often show subtle abnormalities of social behaviour. Atypically increased approach to unfamiliar people is widely reported in the existing literature for both children and adults. Parents frequently report interactions with unfamiliar people as a major concern. In this study we aimed to evaluate 'Stranger Danger' awareness in individuals with WS. When linked to other components of the WS phenotype (e.g. reduced intellectual ability, increased social approach) an awareness of stranger danger is particularly important. Using a video vignette task we show that young people with WS have difficulties making judgements about whether or not to trust and engage in conversation with unfamiliar people. Qualitative data showed that individuals with WS often suggested that they would engage in an interaction with an unfamiliar person. The findings have substantial implications for the safety of young people with the disorder and emphasise the timely need for further intervention regarding this behaviour.

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2013

This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Condition... more This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving. Additional information: Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

Autism, 2012

Previous eye tracking research on the allocation of attention to social information by individual... more Previous eye tracking research on the allocation of attention to social information by individuals with autism spectrum disorders is equivocal and may be in part a consequence of variation in stimuli used between studies. The current study explored attention allocation to faces, and within faces, by individuals with Asperger syndrome using a range of static stimuli where faces were either viewed in isolation or viewed in the context of a social scene. Results showed that faces were viewed typically by the individuals with Asperger syndrome when presented in isolation, but attention to the eyes was significantly diminished in comparison to age and IQ-matched typical viewers when faces were viewed as part of social scenes. We show that when using static stimuli, there is evidence of atypicality for individuals with Asperger syndrome depending on the extent of social context. Our findings shed light on the previous explanations of gaze behaviour that have emphasised the role of movemen...

Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2013

Background: From a young age the typical development of social functioning relies upon the alloca... more Background: From a young age the typical development of social functioning relies upon the allocation of attention to socially relevant information, which in turn allows experience at processing such information and thus enhances social cognition. As such, research has attempted to identify the developmental processes that are derailed in some neuro-developmental disorders that impact upon social functioning. Williams syndrome (WS) and autism are disorders of development that are characterized by atypical yet divergent social phenotypes and atypicalities of attention to people. Methods: We used eye tracking to explore how individuals with WS and autism attended to, and subsequently interpreted, an actor's eye gaze cue within a social scene. Images were presented for 3 seconds, initially with an instruction simply to look at the picture. The images were then shown again, with the participant asked to identify the object being looked at. Allocation of eye gaze in each condition was analyzed by analysis of variance and accuracy of identification was compared with t tests. Results: Participants with WS allocated more gaze time to face and eyes than their matched controls, both with and without being asked to identify the item being looked at; while participants with autism spent less time on face and eyes in both conditions. When cued to follow gaze, participants with WS increased gaze to the correct targets; those with autism looked more at the face and eyes but did not increase gaze to the correct targets, while continuing to look much more than their controls at implausible targets. Both groups identified fewer objects than their controls. Conclusions: The atypicalities found are likely to be entwined with the deficits shown in interpreting social cognitive cues from the images. WS and autism are characterized by atypicalities of social attention that impact upon socio-cognitive expertise, but, importantly, the type of atypicality is syndrome specific.

s – Poster Sessions (alphabetical order) Presenter: Marie Alkan Title: Investigating the developm... more s – Poster Sessions (alphabetical order) Presenter: Marie Alkan Title: Investigating the development of episodic memory (EM) using a minimally verbal task Email: marie.a.alkan@dur.ac.uk Affiliation: Durham University. Co-authors: Alexander Easton (Durham University), Deborah Riby (Durham University), Tom V. Smulders (Newcastle University). Background: Episodic memory (EM) involves recalling the spatial location, and temporal context of personally experienced past events. Most of the tasks used to assess EM in children rely on verbal reports. This can be problematic for young children and children with neurodevelopmental disorders where access through language can be difficult. The objectives of this study were: (1) to

Autism : the international journal of research and practice, Jan 6, 2015

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder do not just 'grow out of' their early difficult... more Individuals with autism spectrum disorder do not just 'grow out of' their early difficulties in understanding the social world. Even for those who are cognitively able, autism-related difficulties continue into adulthood. Atypicalities attending to and interpreting communicative signals from others can provide barriers to success in education, employment and relationships. In the current study, we use eye-tracking during real social interaction to explore attention to social cues (e.g. face, eyes, mouth) and links to social awareness in a group of cognitively able University students with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing students from the same University. During the interaction, students with autism spectrum disorder showed less eye fixation and more mouth fixation than typically developing students. Importantly, while 63% of typically developing participants reported thinking they were deceived about the true nature of the interaction, only 9% of autism spe...

Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2014

The Internet poses a new kind of threat, especially for those individuals already vulnerable in s... more The Internet poses a new kind of threat, especially for those individuals already vulnerable in society. The current paper draws on the social phenotypes associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Williams syndrome (WS) to propose that individuals with some developmental disorders face an elevated level of risk whilst online. Many individuals with ASD struggle to maintain social relations and are frequent users of screen-based technology, using the Internet to seek out social connections. Similarly, individuals with WS harbour an extreme pro-social drive to interact with others, both familiar and unfamiliar, and experience difficulties understanding the subtle nuances of social behaviour. Specific risk factors such as these are used to illustrate the case for online vulnerability in developmental disorders.

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2010

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2009

Considerable research effort has been dedicated to exploring how well children with autistic spec... more Considerable research effort has been dedicated to exploring how well children with autistic spectrum disorders infer eye gaze direction from the face of an actor. Here we combine task performance (accuracy to correctly label a target item) and eye movement information ('where' the participant fixates when completing the task) to understand more about the components involved in completing eye direction detection tasks. Fifteen

Background: From a young age the typical development of social functioning relies upon the alloca... more Background: From a young age the typical development of social functioning relies upon the allocation of attention to socially relevant information, which in turn allows experience at processing such information and thus enhances social cognition. As such, research has attempted to identify the developmental processes that are derailed in some neuro-developmental disorders that impact upon social functioning. Williams syndrome (WS) and Autism are disorders of development that are characterized by atypical yet divergent social phenotypes and atypicalities of attention to people. Methods: We used eye tracking to explore how individuals with WS and Autism attended to, and subsequently interpreted, an actor’s eye gaze cue within a social scene. Images were presented for three seconds, initially with an instruction simply to look at the picture. The images were then shown again, with the participant asked to identify the object being looked at. Allocation of eye-gaze in each condition was analyzed by ANOVA and accuracy of identification was compared with t-tests. Results: Participants with WS allocated more gaze time to face and eyes than their matched controls both with and without being asked to identify the item being looked at; while participants with Autism spent less time on face and eyes in both conditions. When cued to follow gaze, participants with WS increased gaze to the correct targets, while those with Autism looked more at the face and eyes but did not increase gaze to the correct targets, while continuing to look much more than their controls at implausible targets. Both groups identified fewer objects than their controls. Conclusions: The atypicalities found are likely to be entwined with the deficits shown in interpreting social cognitive cues from the images. WS and Autism are characterised by atypicalities of social attention that impact upon socio-cognitive expertise but importantly the type of atypicality is syndrome-specific.

A small amount of research with individuals with William’s Syndrome (WS) suggests that children w... more A small amount of research with individuals with William’s Syndrome (WS) suggests that children with the condition may be vulnerable to sensory processing abnormalities and present with repetitive and restricted behaviours. Parents of twenty-one children with WS aged 6-15 years completed a semi structured interview designed to elicit the form, frequency, impact and developmental course of a range of sensory processing abnormalities and repetitive behaviours. Findings indicate that sensory processing difficulties are predominantly characterised by hypersensitivities, particularly in relation to vestibular, auditory, gustatory and proprioceptive functioning. Parents also reported the presence of a range or restricted and repetitive behaviours, which were often associated with their child’s sensory symptoms. This study makes a significant contribution to our understanding of sensory functioning and repetitive behaviours in WS. It also highlights the need for a multi-disciplinary assessment of the difficulties experienced by children with WS.

The developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) is characterised by a distinctive cognitive pro... more The developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) is characterised by a distinctive cognitive profile and an intriguing social phenotype. Individuals with the disorder are often highly social engaging in interactions with familiar and unfamiliar people and once in those interactions they often show subtle abnormalities of social behaviour. Atypically increased approach to unfamiliar people is widely reported in the existing literature for both children and adults. Parents frequently report interactions with unfamiliar people as a major concern. In this study we aimed to evaluate ‘Stranger Danger’ awareness in individuals with WS. When linked to other components of the WS phenotype (e.g. reduced intellectual ability, increased social approach) an awareness of stranger danger is particularly important. Using a video vignette task we show that young people with WS have difficulties making judgements about whether or not to trust and engage in conversation with unfamiliar people. Qualitative data showed that individuals with WS often suggested that they would engage in an interaction with an unfamiliar person. The findings have substantial implications for the safety of young people with the disorder and emphasise the timely need for further intervention regarding this behaviour.

Developmental Psychology Forum, Apr 1, 2022

Developmental Psychology Forum

Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2014

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2013

Autism, 2012

Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2013

Autism : the international journal of research and practice, Jan 6, 2015

Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2014

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2010

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2009

Background: From a young age the typical development of social functioning relies upon the alloca... more Background: From a young age the typical development of social functioning relies upon the allocation of attention to socially relevant information, which in turn allows experience at processing such information and thus enhances social cognition. As such, research has attempted to identify the developmental processes that are derailed in some neuro-developmental disorders that impact upon social functioning. Williams syndrome (WS) and Autism are disorders of development that are characterized by atypical yet divergent social phenotypes and atypicalities of attention to people. Methods: We used eye tracking to explore how individuals with WS and Autism attended to, and subsequently interpreted, an actor’s eye gaze cue within a social scene. Images were presented for three seconds, initially with an instruction simply to look at the picture. The images were then shown again, with the participant asked to identify the object being looked at. Allocation of eye-gaze in each condition was analyzed by ANOVA and accuracy of identification was compared with t-tests. Results: Participants with WS allocated more gaze time to face and eyes than their matched controls both with and without being asked to identify the item being looked at; while participants with Autism spent less time on face and eyes in both conditions. When cued to follow gaze, participants with WS increased gaze to the correct targets, while those with Autism looked more at the face and eyes but did not increase gaze to the correct targets, while continuing to look much more than their controls at implausible targets. Both groups identified fewer objects than their controls. Conclusions: The atypicalities found are likely to be entwined with the deficits shown in interpreting social cognitive cues from the images. WS and Autism are characterised by atypicalities of social attention that impact upon socio-cognitive expertise but importantly the type of atypicality is syndrome-specific.

The developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) is characterised by a distinctive cognitive pro... more The developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) is characterised by a distinctive cognitive profile and an intriguing social phenotype. Individuals with the disorder are often highly social engaging in interactions with familiar and unfamiliar people and once in those interactions they often show subtle abnormalities of social behaviour. Atypically increased approach to unfamiliar people is widely reported in the existing literature for both children and adults. Parents frequently report interactions with unfamiliar people as a major concern. In this study we aimed to evaluate ‘Stranger Danger’ awareness in individuals with WS. When linked to other components of the WS phenotype (e.g. reduced intellectual ability, increased social approach) an awareness of stranger danger is particularly important. Using a video vignette task we show that young people with WS have difficulties making judgements about whether or not to trust and engage in conversation with unfamiliar people. Qualitative data showed that individuals with WS often suggested that they would engage in an interaction with an unfamiliar person. The findings have substantial implications for the safety of young people with the disorder and emphasise the timely need for further intervention regarding this behaviour.