Eye movements during processing of text requiring bridging inferences in adolescents with higher functioning autism spectrum disorders: A preliminary investigation

• Reaction times to general knowledge questions were faster for questions in relevant context as compared to those in irrelevant contexts.
• Mean total fixation duration per stimulus was longer for the target participants than it was for the control participants.
• Eye movement data suggest that target participants had greater difficulty with text processing than control participants.
• Target participants made more fixations, longer fixations, and more regressions than typically developing readers.
• Text processing of the passages was possibly more demanding for the target participants.

In this study, 18 children with higher functioning autism (HFASD) and 16 controls read short, two-sentence passages that necessitated a bridging inference for comprehension and responded to a general knowledge question that was either primed or unprimed by the inference. We measured mean reading times and correct responses to knowledge questions, as well as recorded the eye-movements of the participants while reading. Analysis of reaction times to general knowledge questions were faster for questions in relevant context as compared to those in irrelevant contexts, suggesting that children with HFASD were able to build the bridging inferences necessary for comprehension. Eye-movement data revealed that children with HFASD spent more time fixating on text, made more fixations overall, and made more regressions (i.e., moving backward within the text) while reading than did controls. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are offered.