Figure 2. Mean proximity index (PI) comparison between groups.

Violin plots illustrate the distribution of Proximity Index (PI) values for two groups: typically developing (TD) in blue (n = 51) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in red (n = 166). The error bars on each plot represent the 95% confidence intervals around the means. Statistical significance of the differences between means was assessed using a two-sample t-test. The PI values for the TD group were derived using a leave-one-out approach, where the PI for each ASD child was calculated based on the referent gaze data from the 51 TD children in the original sample.