Running head: VIEWING IT DIFFERENTLY Research Note: Viewing it differently: Social scene perception in Williams syndrome and Autism Deborah M Riby School of Psychology Newcastle University Peter J B Hancock Department of Psychology Stirling University Correspondence: Dr. Deborah M Riby, School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Ridley Building 1, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK Tel: +44 (0)191 222 6557 Fax: +44 (0)191 222 5622 Email: D.M.Riby@newcastle.ac.uk Acknowledgements: This research was entirely supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (R000222030) to PJBH and DMR. Abstract The genetic disorder Williams syndrome (WS) is associated with a propulsion towards social stimuli and interactions with people. In contrast, the neuro-developmental disorder autism is characterised by social withdrawal and lack of interest in socially relevant information. Using eye-tracking techniques we investigate how individuals with these two neuro-developmental disorders associated with distinct social characteristics view scenes containing people. The way individuals with these disorders view social stimuli may impact upon successful social interactions and communication. Whilst individuals with autism spend less time than is typical viewing people and faces in static pictures of social interactions, the opposite is apparent for those with WS whereby exaggerated fixations are prevalent towards the eyes. The results suggest more attention should be drawn towards understanding the implications of atypical social preferences in WS, in the same way that attention has been drawn to the social deficits associated with autism. Keywords: Eye-tracking, Williams syndrome, autism, social cognition To appear in Neuropsychologia 1