Eye-tracking study of joint attention deficits in pre-school age

The article investigates joint attention deficits in various forms of atypical development using eye movement recording. Preschoolers aged 5-7 years from different clinical groups participated in the study: typically developing (n = 20), with mental retardation (ICD-10 class F83) (n = 20), preschoolers with delayed speech development (ICD-10 class R47) (n = 20), with hearing impairment (sensorineural hearing loss, ICD-10 class H90) (n = 10) and with visual impairment (amblyopia and strabismus, IBC-10 class H53) (n = 20). Contrasting group analyses allowed us to identify both specific and universal manifestations of joint attention deficit symptoms in the different forms of atypical development. Gaze tracking was used to analyze fixation duration and frequency, fixation distribution, areas of interest, and to identify markers of joint attention deficits that interfere with the child's productive interaction with an adult. Potential mechanisms of atypical joint attention are described, including atypical direction of gaze, changes in the dynamics of the operative visual field, duration of visual concentration, and accuracy in fixing the object’s elements. It is shown that fixation time in joint attention episodes can be regarded as a prognostic marker of joint attention disorders: joint attention is associated not only with spatial characteristics of areas of interest, but also with fixation duration on the object (decrease/increase in fixation duration).

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Lack of joint attention in preschoolers with different forms of atypical development

Materials of the X All-Russian Scientific Conference ◽

10.15862/53mnnpk20-29 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yana Smirnova ◽

◽

Aleksandr Mudruk ◽

Anna Makashova ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Visual Attention ◽

Joint Attention ◽

Functional Organization ◽

Experimental Situation ◽

Necessary Condition ◽

Eye Tracker ◽

Attention Disorders ◽

Comprehensive Development ◽

Atypical Development

The article analyzes the problem of the deficit of the mechanism of joint attention, which affects the formation of the child's ability to separate intentions as a social foundation for the processes of mastering cognitive functions, using speech and learning. The study is devoted to a comparative analysis of the picture of atypical joint attention in a sample of children with different forms of developmental disabilities. To understand the normative and deficient manifestations of joint attention, a comparative study of a sample of typically developing preschool children with groups of children with atypical development was carried out. The aim of the study was to highlight the manifestation of a deficit in joint attention, which prevents involvement in dyadic (bilateral) interactions with an adult, which are necessary for the comprehensive development and learning of a child. Methodology. In an experimental situation of real interaction of a child with an adult and with the help of an eye tracker, it was possible to fix eye movements as a marker of joint attention in real time. The specificity of the functional organization of oculomotor activity as an indicator of the child's participation in joint attention is highlighted. Results and its discussion. Methods of tracking eye movements made it possible to analyze critical shifts of attention, changes in focus of attention, gaze shifting, eye recognition as an informative sign and perception of the partner's gaze direction as a necessary condition for the effective establishment of an episode of joint attention. Conclusions. The following were recorded as diagnostic markers of joint attention disorders in preschoolers with different forms of atypical development: difficulties in following the direction of an adult's gaze; anticipatory actions of the child or decision-making by the method of "guessing" / "trial and error"; the predominance of the orientation of the child's attention to the object, and not to the adult; dispersion of fixations of visual attention; the use of additional multimodal means of establishing joint attention (head turn, gestures, speech, etc.); decrease in the accuracy of fixing visual attention.

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Eye-tracking research

10.18559/978-83-8211-079-1/ii1 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 39-60

Author(s):

Sylwester Białowąs ◽

Adrianna Szyszka

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Eye Tracking ◽

Internal Model ◽

Research Method ◽

Fixation Duration ◽

Fixation Time ◽

Total Fixation ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

Areas Of Interest

Eye movements provide information on subconscious reactions in response to stimuli and are a reflection of attention and focus. With regard to visual activity, four types of eye movements—fixations, saccades, smooth pursuits and blinks—can be distinguished. Fixations—the number and distribution, total fixation time or average fixation duration are among the most common measures. The capabilities of this research method also allow the determination of scanpaths that track gaze on the image as well as heat- and focus maps, which visually represent points of gaze focus. A key concept in eye-tracking that allows for more in-depth analysis is areas of interest (AOI)—measures can then be taken for selected parts of the visual stimulus. On the other hand, the area of gaze outside the scope of analysis is called white space. The software allows for comparisons of static and non-static stimuli and provides a choice of template, dataset, metrics or data format. In conducting eye-tracking research, proper calibration is crucial, which means that the participant’s gaze should be adjusted to the internal model of the eye-tracking software. In addition, attention should be paid to such aspects as time and spatial control. The exposure time for each participant should be identical. The testing space should be well-lit and at a comfortable temperature.

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Abstract W MP53: The Prevalence and Characteristics of Attention Disorders in The Patients with First-onset Mild Hemorrhagic Stroke

Stroke ◽

10.1161/str.46.suppl_1.wmp53 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 46 (suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Haruki Tokida ◽

Masakazu Nishigaki ◽

Masaru Kuriyama

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Acute Phase ◽

Hemorrhagic Stroke ◽

False Negative ◽

Previous History ◽

Attention Deficits ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Attention Disorders ◽

First Onset ◽

Mild Stroke

Objectives: Recent study revealed that over 50 % of stroke patients had some form of attention deficits. However, few reports focused on acute phase and mild stroke patients. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of attention disorders and the change of their symptoms during the hospitalization in the patients with first-onset mild hemorrhagic stroke. Methods: Study subjects were 231 consecutive patients diagnosed as hemorrhage stroke and treated at our hospital from 2011 to 2012. Patients with severe hemorrhage (i.e., amount of bleeding >5cc), with previous history of cerebrovascular diseases or dementia, with decreased level of consciousness or with impaired activity of daily living were not eligible to this study. Neuropsychological assessments were conducted by speech therapists at 1 and 2 week after stroke onset using Clinical Assessment for Attention (CAT) and examined how they changed. CAT was a test battery developed by the Japan Society for Higher Brain Dysfunction to evaluate deficit of attention disorders. Results: Among the study subjects, 46 patients met the selection criteria and 16 patients (34.8%, 6 men, mean age was 66) were identified as having attention disorders. Bleeding lesions were left putamen (n=3), right putamen (n=9) and right thalamus (n=4). Significant improvements were observed in two types of focused attention and auditory selective attention measures: percentage of correct answers of Visual Cancellation Task (VCT, p=0.027) and Auditory Detection Task (ADT, p = 0.01). Additionally, working hours in VCT was significantly shortened, and the false-negative rate was also significantly decreased (p= 0.028). In ADT, the false-positive rate was significantly decreased (p= 0.012). No significant changes were observed in other type of tasks. Discussion: More than one-third of patients showed attention deficits even though they had mild stroke. Only focused and selective attentions were improved in acute phase of mild stroke. These results suggested that improvement in focused and selective attention precede improvement in other attentional functions.

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Wandering Eyes: Using Gaze-Tracking Method to Capture Eye Fixations in Unfamiliar Healthcare Environments

HERD Health Environments Research & Design Journal ◽

10.1177/19375867211042344 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 193758672110423

Author(s):

Hessam Ghamari ◽

Nasrin Golshany

Keyword(s):

Human Subjects ◽

Age Groups ◽

Healthcare Setting ◽

Fixation Time ◽

Gaze Tracking ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Eye Fixations ◽

Environmental Attributes ◽

Architectural Features ◽

Healthcare Environments

Objective: This study aims to investigate the elements of wayfinding in indoor complex healthcare environments. Background: The study replicates Ghamari and Pati’s 2018 study to identify the environmental attributes that attract eye fixation during wayfinding by objectively tracking eye movements and fixation as healthy subjects navigate through a complex, unfamiliar indoor healthcare setting. The study addressed what do people look at while navigating in unfamiliar healthcare environments? What are the relative time periods of eye fixations on different visual environmental elements of the healthcare-designed environments? And what role do visual environmental attributes in healthcare facilities, such as configuration, color, art, directories, maps, furniture, and so on, play during the wayfinding process. Method: Twenty-four adults in different genders and various age groups participated in this study and navigated five routes with different degrees of difficulty. The sequence of the destinations in this study was randomized. The data were collected by tracking gaze fixations while human subjects navigated an indoor complex healthcare environment. Results: The findings show that identifying signs (29.1%), informative signs (20.8%), and architectural features (11.3%) constituted the most frequent elements attracting gaze, substantially more than the other classes of information. Four types of signage (identifying signs, informative signs, directional, and safety/regulatory signs) were accounted for 62.3% of the total gaze fixation time. Conclusions: The comparison of the ordered list based on frequencies and time of eye fixations on various elements developed in Ghamari and Pati’s study shows a vast degree of similarities.

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Quantitative Analysis of Search Sessions Enhanced by Gaze Tracking with Dynamic Areas of Interest

Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries - Lecture Notes in Computer Science ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-33290-6_53 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 468-473 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Tuan Vu Tran ◽

Norbert Fuhr

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Analysis ◽

Gaze Tracking ◽

Areas Of Interest

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Second thoughts on the nature of autism

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579400000419 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 213-217 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Peter Mundy ◽

Marian Sigman

Keyword(s):

Joint Attention ◽

Attention Deficits ◽

Autistic Children ◽

Affective Factors ◽

Parsimonious Explanation ◽

Skill Deficits ◽

Processing Deficit ◽

Cognitive And Affective Factors

AbstractThis article presents our response to the comments of Baron-Cohen, Harris, Hobson, and Leslie and Happé. We suggest that a singular cognitive hypothesis does not provide a parsimonious explanation of autism. We argue that certain aspects of autism, including observations of joint-attention deficits and observations of deficits in the prosodic elements of speech, may best be explained in terms of both cognitive and affective factors. We also acknowledge the validity of the criticism of our contingency processing deficit hypothesis (Mundy & Sigman, 1989a). In response to this criticism, we offer a modification of our model of joint-attention skill deficits in autistic children.

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JOINT ATTENTION AND THE MENTAL MODEL OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN WITH ATYPICAL DEVELOPMENT

Moscow University Psychology Bulletin ◽

10.11621/vsp.2020.01.06 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 96-123

Author(s):

Yana K. Smirnova

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Preschool Children ◽

Joint Attention ◽

Mental Model ◽

Social Characteristics ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Speech Impairment ◽

Typically Developing Children ◽

Primary Defect ◽

Atypical Development

Relevance. The article discusses the relationship between the development of joint (shared) attention of a child with an adult, and the social and cognitive development of the child. Based on previous studies of typically developing children that demonstrate their participation and responsiveness to fundamental social characteristics, it is significant to identify manifestations of atypical joint attention when a child does not register which object (event) or which aspects of this object (event) are the focus of an interlocutor’s attention. The question of which aspects of joint attention are related to the normative development of the child makes this relevant for comparing groups with different forms of atypical development. For the study, the main indicator of understanding the intentions of the other in the direction of view was used, as one of the aspects of joint attention. Objective. To compare the development of social cognition and joint attention among typically developing children and children with various forms of atypical development in order to identify the correlation between the theory of mind and cognitive lesion. Methods. In a sample of preschool children with typical development and of those with mental retardation, hearing impairment, speech impairment, or visual impairment (N = 90), the following methods were used to evaluate the children’s understanding of the intentions, desires, and interests of others by their behavioral manifestations: “Test for Erroneous Opinion”, “Sally-Ann”; the “What does Charlie want?” task, and others. The task was also used to assess the child’s ability to use the direction of a character’s gaze in a picture to determine the person’s intentions. Results. We identified the “primary psychological” characteristics of the atypical development of the child, which prioritize violations of social communication. Several variations of the violation of joint attention were singled out by determining a person’s intentions by the direction of their gaze. It was shown that determining intentions by the direction of gaze is associated with the normative age formation of the child. Symptoms of deficiency in this skill vary depending on the specifics of the child’s atypical development. Conclusions. Secondary deviations in the development of social cognition are specific to a particular primary defect. The limited inflow of information in the event of a violation of the analyzer creates unusual conditions in the children’s accumulation of the experience of social interaction that is necessary to form a mental model.

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Comparative research of imitational ability in atypical development in the preschool age

Психолог ◽

10.25136/2409-8701.2020.3.32784 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 103-117

Author(s):

Yana Konstantinovna Smirnova ◽

Natal'ya Gennad'evna Yanova

Keyword(s):

Developmental Delay ◽

Comparative Research ◽

Mental States ◽

Model Analysis ◽

Speech Development ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Group Differences ◽

Typical Development ◽

Psychological Model ◽

Atypical Development

This article discusses deficit of the model of psychological (from standpoint of difficulties) translation of prospects of actions of another person to the prospect of own actions in the process of imitation. The goal of this research consists in the analysis of group distinctions and comparison of imitational abilities of the children with typical development and children with developmental delay, as well as determine the degree to which the changes in the level of psychological model and identification of direction of the views would related to changes in imitation. The survey 124 children of preschool age. Comparison was conducted on the development of psychological model and imitation in the three contrasting groups: children with typical development, children with developmental delay, and children with delay in speech development. The group differences of imitation in relation to the psychological model were detected. It is demonstrated that the problems associated with imitation cam manifest as the universal symptoms for explanation of deficit in the development of psychological model. Analysis of the obtained results allow concluding that for effective accomplishment of imitational patents, it is necessary to understand and distinguish the mental states of another person.

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