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Abstract

Behavior

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Published: October 3rd, 2018

DOI:

10.3791/58452

1Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Tsinghua University, 2School of Human Environmental Sciences, University of Arkansas, 3Institute for Speech Pathology and the Brain Science, Beijing Language and Culture University, 4Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University

* These authors contributed equally

Abstract

Sentence comprehension relies on the ability to rapidly integrate different types of linguistic and non-linguistic information. However, there is currently a paucity of research exploring how preschool children with autism understand sentences using different types of cues. The mechanisms underlying sentence comprehension remains largely unclear. The present study presents a protocol to examine the sentence comprehension abilities of preschool children with autism. More specifically, a visual world paradigm of eye-tracking is used to explore the moment-to-moment sentence comprehension in the children. The paradigm has multiple advantages. First, it is sensitive to the time course of sentence comprehension and thus can provide rich information about how sentence comprehension unfolds over time. Second, it requires minimal task and communication demands, so it is ideal for testing children with autism. To further minimize the computational burden of children, the present study measures eye movements that arise as automatic responses to linguistic input rather than measuring eye movements that accompany conscious responses to spoken instructions.

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Keywords Visual World Paradigm

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