Social attention and autism in early childhood: Evidence on behavioral markers based on visual scanning of emotional faces with eye-tracking methodology

•Eye-tracking methodology yields early behavioral markers of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).•Preschoolers with ASD showed distinctive visual scanning of angry faces.•Preschoolers with ASD scanned child faces differently compared to controls.•Preschoolers with ASD looked at faces significantly less than their typical peers.•These behavioral markers may support diagnosis and guide practice in early intervention. Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate distinctive scanning of faces, which has been suggested as an obstacle to social expertise, hindering their lifelong social relationships. This study aimed at comparing social attention in young children with and without ASD (N = 34). We designed two eye-tracking paired preference tasks to assess the effects of emotional expression and the actor’s gender (Experiment 1) and actor’s age (Experiment 2) on the visual scanning pattern of faces in both groups. Data analysis yielded three behavioral markers in the ASD group: (1) late orientation to angry faces, (2) late orientation to child faces, and (3) superficial facial processing (shorter visits). Clinical and research implications are discussed regarding potential markers that could contribute to early diagnosis and intervention.