Name: a method to quantify visual information processing in children using eye tracking
Uploaded: 2016-07-09T14:00:00.000+00:00
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The authors thank daycare centers (Wasko, Alblasserwaard) for their support in recruiting the control group, and Mark Vonk for his help in data collection in the control group. The authors also thank the children from the control group and the children who are clients from Royal Dutch Visio for participation in the study. The authors are grateful to the children and their parents for participation in the video.
The development of the method was supported by a grant from the Novum Foundation: a non-profit organization providing financial support to (research) projects that improve the quality of life of individuals with a visual impairment (www.stichtingnovum.org). Financial support for the current study was provided by 'ZonMw Inzicht' (Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development-Insight Society), grant number: 60-00635-98-10.

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The authors declare that they have no competing financial interest.

The presented measurement set-up combined with quantitative eye movement analysis provides a distinct characterization of visual processing functions in various groups of children with oculomotor and visual impairments. The key feature of this paradigm is that performance is based on eye movement responses to visual stimuli that are triggered in a reflexive manner. No specific verbal instructions are given and there is no need for children to verbally respond. The parameters RTF, GFA and FD show significant differences between groups of typically developing- and visually impaired children, despite the limited spread of parameter values that exists in each group (Figures 4-6). Thus, depending on the evaluated parameter, some typically developing children can show deviant performance, while some children with visual impairments show &#39;normal&#39; performance. Ultimately, multiple outcome measures in response to multiple visual modalities should be considered on an individual level. A summary of all outcome measures provides a unique characterization of visual information processing capacities, which may be converted in a visual profile in children from 6 months of age.
Several studies have shown the value of remote eye tracking in vulnerable populations of children, to infer attentional or psychological capacities9,12,18. Whereas most studies rely on behavioral observations and the use of instructions, a distinct feature of the current paradigm is the nonverbal, quantitative approach. Critical steps within the protocol therefore include the stimuli that are based on preferential looking, the mobile measurement set-up, and the custom calibration and analysis software. The presented extension of observation-based results with elaborate analysis methods provides standardized and detailed results on visual processing functions. This is in line with work on the assessment of infant visual acuity with an eye tracker14, and work on gaze control in various disorders7. The method is flexible and enables mobile assessment which is indispensable when performing clinical assessments in young children or children with multiple disabilities. Therefore, it is suited to measure oculomotor and visual processing capacities in virtually all children that are capable of watching a monitor.
The significance of this method with respect to existing visual diagnostic methods (i.e., validity) has been studied as a first step toward clinical implementation. The present paradigm was combined with currently used visual function assessment (VFA) in children. Observations of oculomotor and visual functions that are based on eye movement recordings were comparable with standard behavioral observations of these functions. Moreover, eye tracking parameters, e.g., fixation duration and saccadic direction, provided additional value in characterizing oculomotor and visual performance in children during VFA (Kooiker MJG et. al., 2015, submitted). The major gain of the presented method lies in the possibility to assess more visual functions than is currently done in visual function assessments at a young age, and to assess them in a quantitative manner26. A limitation with respect to existing methods is that, without adaptations, it is not yet possible to thoroughly assess visual acuity or visual field with the present test battery14.
Although we limited ourselves to the presentation of results from cartoon stimuli, in future applications different visual modalities can be tested using other stimuli (e.g., distinct forms, motion, color and contrast information)22,20,25. That way, specific visual processing areas beyond the primary visual pathways are targeted, such as visual association areas in temporal or parietal cortex. A limitation of the method is that the present visual stimuli merely trigger the detection of visual input, and invoke the initial stage of visual processing. These stimuli do not target higher-order functions that become relevant after stimulus detection and that are normally measured with visual perception tests. Although their execution without the use of communication is challenging, an eye tracking-based paradigm is a promising future format for the detection of perception-related information, e.g. visual search, -memory or -selective attention.
In sum, detailed eye movement responses to various types of visual stimulation provide a comprehensive characterization of visual information processing functions, early in development. Consequently, for each child an individual visual profile in terms of intact and impaired functions can be created. Such a profile may provide detailed information about strengths and weaknesses in oculomotor and visual function. It may be used as a starting point for support in daily life, and for teacher and caregiver education. The quantitative information that has become available with this method can be advantageous for following visual development over time, and for monitoring visual interventions and rehabilitation programs.

The prevalence of brain damage-related visual problems in children has increased. Because visual problems can have great impact on a child&#39;s development, early detection in young infants and children at risk is highly important. At present, visual function tests to assess visual sensory functions such as visual acuity and contrast sensitivity (e.g., optotype tests) are applicable in children from 1-2 years of age1. In younger children these tests are based on structured observations of a child&#39;s viewing behavior to visual information. The interpretation of such behavior, i.e., by looking at a child&#39;s eye movements, can be hampered by oculomotor or attentional dysfunctions of the child, or even by viewing behavior of the observer. Cerebrally mediated visual functions such as visuospatial memory and object recognition are assessed with visual perception tests (e.g., DTVP2). These tests require verbal instructions and communication and can be used from 4-5 years of age. In view of the postnatal development of the visual system and to take advantage of the high level of plasticity early in life, it is desirable to establish the presence and extent of impairments in visual information processing as early as possible. That way, children with (cerebral) visual impairments may maximally benefit from early intervention, visual stimulation, or supportive strategies. Consequently, there is a need for an assessment method of visual information processing that can be used without verbal communication in children and that is based on quantitative results.
Eye movements are a good model to study visually guided orienting behavior to stimuli3,4, and related perceptual and cognitive functions5. Eye movements indicate the focus of visual attention in scenes, and are known to result either from bottom-up (reflexive, salience-driven) or from top-down (intentional, cognitive) processes6. Eye movements are used to direct the fovea, i.e., sharpness of vision, to new objects. The visual content of an object of interest is processed via pathways that run from the retina via the lateral geniculate nucleus to primary visual cortex (V1), and that distribute themselves over cerebral processing areas (e.g., involved in attention, spatial orientation, recognition, memory, and emotions). Eye movements are both a prerequisite for, and a sequel to visual information processing.
Developments in the measurement of eye movements with infrared eye trackers give the possibility to obtain quantitative parameters of oculomotor and visual function. Automated eye trackers are nowadays omnipresent in medical and psychological research involving healthy and clinical populations. Their purpose is not only to study oculomotor function and attention allocation7, but also to answer questions about behavioral and psychological mechanisms8,9. With the rise of accessible and commercial eye tracking systems, they are increasingly used to test vulnerable populations of infants and children10-12, without constraining conditions, complex instructions, or active cooperation12,13. Due to the close coupling of the oculomotor and visual system on an ocular and cerebral level, eye tracking-based methods are pre-eminently suited to assess visual capacities. So far, besides the measurement of visual acuity14, the use of the technique in assessing visual function in children has received relatively little attention.
Our group has combined eye movement measurements with a preferential looking paradigm13. Preferential looking is the preference to fixate patterned surfaces over homogeneous ones15. This principle is applied by using visual stimuli with a target area in one of four quadrants, which differ from the background in terms of one specific visual feature, e.g. coherent form, coherent motion, contrast and color. These visual features are known to be processed by separate peripheral and central visual pathways. For example, information about form is processed by ventral pathways, from V1 to the temporal cortex. Information about motion is processed by dorsal pathways, from V1 to posterior parietal cortex16. Hence, specific stimuli are used to trigger visual information processing in distinct areas of the visual system. If a child is able to see the specific visual information that is presented, that information will attract visual attention in the form of eye movements. These reflexive eye movement responses to the visual stimuli are recorded with a remote infrared eye tracker. That way, eye movement measures provide a communication-free assessment of the quality of various aspects of visual information processing13.
Eye movements provide not only observational data of a child&#39;s viewing behavior11, but can also be used for more objective outcome measures. In combination with a carefully designed test paradigm, eye movements can give precise and objective information on visual information processing. This information is obtained by calculating quantitative parameters based on temporal and spatial properties of eye movement responses. Examples of such parameters are reaction time13, fixation time17, saccade metrics7 or cumulative attention allocation18. The availability of these parameters is new to the field of visual assessment in children at a young developmental stage.
The goal of this paper is to present an eye tracking-based method to measure visual information processing in children from the age of 6 months. The measurement set-up and procedure (i.e. nonverbal paradigm, post-calibration, and mobility) specifically apply to using this method in children at risk. A crucial aspect is the analysis of quantitative visual response parameters, i.e. reaction time, fixation duration, and fixation accuracy. These parameters are used to provide reference areas of visually guided responses in typically developing children, to characterize visual information processing in risk groups of children with visual impairments.

<table><tbody><tr><td>Tobii T60 XL</td><td>Tobii Technology: http://www.tobii.com&amp;nbsp;</td><td>http://www.tobii.com/en/eye-tracking-research/global/products/hardware/tobii-t60xl-eye-tracker/</td><td>remote infrared eye tracker&amp;nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>Tobii Studio</td><td>Tobii Technology: http://www.tobii.com&amp;nbsp;</td><td>http://www.tobii.com/en/eye-tracking-research/global/products/software/tobii-studio-analysis-software/</td><td>eye tracker software</td></tr><tr><td>MATLAB</td><td>MathWorks Inc</td><td>http://nl.mathworks.com/products/matlab/</td><td>data analysis software</td></tr></tbody></table>

a method to quantify visual information processing in children using eye tracking

Visual problems that occur early in life can have major impact on a child's development. Without verbal communication and only based on observational methods, it is difficult to make a quantitative assessment of a child's visual problems. This limits accurate diagnostics in children under the age of 4 years and in children with intellectual disabilities. Here we describe a quantitative method that overcomes these problems. The method uses a remote eye tracker and a four choice preferential looking paradigm to measure eye movement responses to different visual stimuli. The child sits without head support in front of a monitor with integrated infrared cameras. In one of four monitor quadrants a visual stimulus is presented. Each stimulus has a specific visual modality with respect to the background, e.g., form, motion, contrast or color. From the reflexive eye movement responses to these specific visual modalities, output parameters such as reaction times, fixation accuracy and fixation duration are calculated to quantify a child's viewing behavior. With this approach, the quality of visual information processing can be assessed without the use of communication. By comparing results with reference values obtained in typically developing children from 0-12 years, the method provides a characterization of visual information processing in visually impaired children. The quantitative information provided by this method can be advantageous for the field of clinical visual assessment and rehabilitation in multiple ways. The parameter values provide a good basis to: (i) characterize early visual capacities and consequently to enable early interventions; (ii) compare risk groups and follow visual development over time; and (iii), construct an individual visual profile for each child.

The presented method has been applied in two populations of children: a control group of 337 children without visual impairments (mean age (SD) = 4.8 (3.3) years), and a group of 119 children with visual impairments (mean age (SD) = 8.10 (2.96) years) who were recruited at a visual rehabilitation center (Royal Dutch Visio, the Netherlands). Of these children, 74 had ocular visual impairment and 45 had cerebral visual impairments. The results of all control children are visualized in Figures 4-6, separately for reaction time, fixation duration, and gaze fixation area. Reference limits (indicated by black lines) were constructed by fitting a logarithmic function to the control data based on age. These figures serve as a basis for characterizing visual processing functions in children with visual impairments, in terms of impaired or intact function.
The parameter reaction time to fixation (RTF) differentiates between children with- and without visual impairments, and between distinct types of visual impairments. RTF is a measure for the time that is needed to process visual information and execute an eye movement (for calculations refer to a previous study13). The lower the RTF value, the faster the eye movement response. Good repeatability of RTF has been shown in a group of typically developing children from 0-12 years13,21,22, and in children with various types of visual impairments21. Figure 4 shows average RTF to the dynamic Cartoon stimulus over age, for control children, children with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and children with ocular visual impairment (OVI). RTF values are significantly higher in children with- compared to children without visual impairments (mean difference = 85 msec; t = -13.91, p &#60;0.001, Cohen&#39;s d = 1.32) and in children with CVI compared to OVI (mean difference = 99 msec; t = -6.90, p &#60;0.001, Cohen&#39;s d = 1.25). These results confirm previously published findings on RTF in subgroups of the present dataset20,24,25.
<img alt="Figure 4" src="/files/ftp_upload/54031/54031fig4.jpg" /> 
Figure 4.&#160;Average RTF in children with- and without visual impairments. Average RTF values in ms (y-axis) per child, over age (x-axis). Values are shown separately for control children (open circles), children with OVI (black circles), and children with CVI (crosses). The black line represents the upper reference limit of RTF in the control group. RTF values above this line are regarded as deviant, i.e. long reaction times. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/54031/54031fig4large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
Fixation duration is the total amount of time that gaze was fixated within the target area. FD is a measure for sustained visual attention, and is dependent on stimulus presentation time, which is 4 sec in the present example. The parameter fixation duration (FD) also differentiates between children with and without different types of visual impairments. Figure 5 shows mean FD over age, separately for control children, children with CVI, and children with OVI. FD is significantly shorter in children with- than in children without visual impairments (mean difference = 850 msec; t = 11.72, p &#60;0.001, Cohen&#39;s d = -1.12), and significantly shorter in children with CVI than in children with OVI (mean difference = 325 msec; t = 2.44, p &#60;0.05, Cohen&#39;s d = -0.50). This confirms previous results in children with-, compared to children without visual impairments (Kooiker MJG et al., submitted).
<img alt="Figure 5" src="/files/ftp_upload/54031/54031fig5.jpg" /> 
Figure 5.&#160;Average FD in children with- and without visual impairments. Average FD values in ms (y-axis) per child, over age (x-axis). Values are shown separately for control children (open circles), children with OVI (black circles), and children with CVI (crosses). The black line represents the lower reference limit of FD in the control group. FD values below this line are regarded as deviant, i.e. short fixation duration. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/54031/54031fig5large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
The parameter gaze fixation area (GFA) is sensitive to detect disturbances in oculomotor control, in particular nystagmus. GFA represents the size of the area of fixation in degrees, and is a measure for fixation accuracy (for calculations see previous studies13,23). A small area of fixation indicates high fixation accuracy. GFA depends on the size of the stimulus and the corresponding target area (i.e., a 6&#186; radius in the present example). Good repeatability of GFA has been shown in a group of typically developing children from 0-12 years13, 21, and in children with various types of visual impairments21. Figure 6 shows mean GFA in response to the cartoon stimulus over age, separately for control children, children with the oculomotor impairment nystagmus, and children with visual impairments but without nystagmus. GFA values are significantly larger, i.e. lower fixation accuracy, in children with- compared to children without visual impairments (mean difference = 1.34&#186;; t = -25.09, p &#60;0.001, Cohen&#39;s d = 2.37). In addition, children with nystagmus have lower fixation accuracy than children without nystagmus but with other types of visual impairment (mean difference = 0.71&#186;; t = 5.03, p &#60;0.001; Cohen&#39;s d = 1.04). This is consistent with previously published findings on GFA in subgroups of the present dataset20,24,25.
<img alt="Figure 6" src="/files/ftp_upload/54031/54031fig6.jpg" /> 
Figure 6.&#160;Average GFA in children with and without visual impairments. Average GFA values in degrees (y-axis) per child, over age (x-axis). Values are shown separately for control children (open circles), children with visual impairment and nystagmus (asterisk), and children with visual impairment without nystagmus (black diamond). The black line represents the upper reference limit of GFA in the control group. GFA values above this line are regarded as deviant, i.e. low fixation accuracy. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/54031/54031fig6large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>

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A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking

A method is described to quantify the quality of visual information processing based on reflexive eye movements in response to specific visual modalities. Reaction times and fixation output parameters are used to characterize visual performance in children with and without visual impairments from 6 months of age.

Visual problems that occur early in life can have major impact on a child's development. Without verbal communication and only based on observational ...

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17.3K Views.  Erasmus MC. A method is described to quantify the quality of visual information processing based on reflexive eye movements in response to specific visual modalities. Reaction times and fixation output parameters are used to characterize visual performance in children with and without visual impairments from 6 months of age.

Video: A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking

Eye Tracking Young Children with Autism

The rise of accessible commercial eye-tracking systems has fueled a rapid increase in their use in psychological and psychiatric research. By providing a direct, detailed and objective measure of gaze behavior, eye-tracking has become a valuable tool for examining abnormal perceptual strategies in clinical populations and has been used to identify disorder-specific characteristics1, promote early identification2, and inform treatment3. In particular, investigators of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have benefited from integrating eye-tracking into their research paradigms4-7. Eye-tracking has largely been used in these studies to reveal mechanisms underlying impaired task performance8 and abnormal brain functioning9, particularly during the processing of social information1,10-11. While older children and adults with ASD comprise the preponderance of research in this area, eye-tracking may be especially useful for studying young children with the disorder as it offers a non-invasive tool for assessing and quantifying early-emerging developmental abnormalities2,12-13. Implementing eye-tracking with young children with ASD, however, is associated with a number of unique challenges, including issues with compliant behavior resulting from specific task demands and disorder-related psychosocial considerations. In this protocol, we detail methodological considerations for optimizing research design, data acquisition and psychometric analysis while eye-tracking young children with ASD. The provided recommendations are also designed to be more broadly applicable for eye-tracking children with other developmental disabilities. By offering guidelines for best practices in these areas based upon lessons derived from our own work, we hope to help other investigators make sound research design and analysis choices while avoiding common pitfalls that can compromise data acquisition while eye-tracking young children with ASD or other developmental difficulties.

Eye tracking has long been used to study gaze patterns in typically-developing individuals, but recent technological advancements have made its use with clinical populations, including autism, more feasible. While eye-tracking young children with autism can offer insight into early symptom manifestations, it involves methodological challenges. Suggestions for best practices are provided.

The rise of accessible commercial eye-tracking systems has fueled a rapid increase in their use in psychological and psychiatric research. By providing a ...

Medicine

Psychophysical Tracking Method to Measure Taste Preferences in Children and Adults

The Monell two-series, forced-choice, paired-comparison tracking method provides a reliable measure of sweet taste preferences from childhood to adulthood. The method, which is identical for children, adolescents, and adults, is of short duration (&#60; 15 min), does not rely on sustained attention or place demands on memory (which would yield spurious age differences), and minimizes the impact of language development, making this method amenable to the cognitive limitations of pediatric populations. In this whole-mouth tasting method, subjects are asked to taste (without swallowing) pairs of solutions of different sucrose concentrations and to point to the solution they prefer. Each subsequent pair contains the participant&#39;s preceding preferred concentration and an adjacent stimulus concentration. The procedure continues until the subject chooses either a given concentration of sucrose when paired with both a higher and a lower concentration, or the highest or lowest concentration two consecutive times. Subjects are prevented from reaching response criteria on the basis of first or second position bias by the two-series design of the method, which counterbalances the order of solution presentation within each pair between the series (the weaker concentration is presented first in Series 1, second in Series 2). The geometric mean of the two sucrose concentrations chosen in Series 1 and 2 is an estimate of the participant&#39;s most preferred level of sucrose. Sucrose preference as determined with this laboratory-based measure has been shown to be associated with preference for sugars in foods and beverages and with taste receptor genotype, family history of alcoholism, and race/ethnicity, as well as depressive symptomatology among pediatric populations. The method has real-world relevance and has been applied to determine most preferred level of other tastes (e.g., salt), making it a valuable psychophysical tool.

Sweet taste has powerful hedonic appeal among people of all ages, particularly children. Described herein is a reliable and valid method that can be used to determine the level of sweetness most preferred, making it a valuable psychophysical tool for scientists.

The Monell two-series, forced-choice, paired-comparison tracking method provides a reliable measure of sweet taste preferences from childhood to ...

Eye-Tracking Control to Assess Cognitive Functions in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with pathological involvement of upper and lower motoneurons, subsequently leading to progressive loss of motor and speech abilities. In addition, cognitive functions are impaired in a subset of patients. To evaluate these potential deficits in severely physically impaired ALS patients, eye-tracking is a promising means to conduct cognitive tests. The present article focuses on how eye movements, an indirect means of communication for physically disabled patients, can be utilized to allow for detailed neuropsychological assessment. The requirements, in terms of oculomotor parameters that have to be met for sufficient eye-tracking in ALS patients are presented. The properties of stimuli, including type of neuropsychological tests and style of presentation, best suited to successfully assess cognitive functioning, are also described. Furthermore, recommendations regarding procedural requirements are provided. Overall, this methodology provides a reliable, easy to administer and fast approach for assessing cognitive deficits in patients who are unable to speak or write such as patients with severe ALS. The only confounding factor might be deficits in voluntary eye movement control in a subset of ALS patients.

Cognitive deficits are common in about one third of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurological condition leading to progressive impairments in speech and movement abilities. To conduct cognitive tests in patients unable to speak or write a reliable and easy to administer eye-tracking paradigm was developed.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with pathological involvement of upper and lower motoneurons, subsequently leading to ...

A Computational Method to Quantify Fly Circadian Activity

In most animals and plants, circadian clocks orchestrate behavioral and molecular processes and synchronize them to the daily light-dark cycle. Fundamental mechanisms that underlie this temporal control are widely studied using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. In flies, the clock is typically studied by analyzing multiday locomotor recording. Such a recording shows a complex bimodal pattern with two peaks of activity: a morning peak that happens around dawn, and an evening peak that happens around dusk. These two peaks together form a waveform that is very different from sinusoidal oscillations observed in clock genes, suggesting that mechanisms in addition to the clock have profound effects in producing the observed patterns in behavioral data. Here we provide instructions on using a recently developed computational method that mathematically describes temporal patterns in fly activity. The method fits activity data with a model waveform that consists of four exponential terms and nine independent parameters that fully describe the shape and size of the morning and evening peaks of activity. The extracted parameters can help elucidate the kinetic mechanisms of substrates that underlie the commonly observed bimodal activity patterns in fly locomotor rhythms.

A method to quantify the main temporal features seen in fly circadian locomotor rhythms is presented. The quantification is achieved by fitting fly activity with a multi-parametric model waveform. The model parameters describe the shape and size of the morning and evening peaks of daily activity.

In most animals and plants, circadian clocks orchestrate behavioral and molecular processes and synchronize them to the daily light-dark cycle. ...

Gaze in Action: Head-mounted Eye Tracking of Children's Dynamic Visual Attention During Naturalistic Behavior

Young children's visual environments are dynamic, changing moment-by-moment as children physically and visually explore spaces and objects and interact with people around them. Head-mounted eye tracking offers a unique opportunity to capture children's dynamic egocentric views and how they allocate visual attention within those views. This protocol provides guiding principles and practical recommendations for researchers using head-mounted eye trackers in both laboratory and more naturalistic settings. Head-mounted eye tracking complements other experimental methods by enhancing opportunities for data collection in more ecologically valid contexts through increased portability and freedom of head and body movements compared to screen-based eye tracking. This protocol can also be integrated with other technologies, such as motion tracking and heart-rate monitoring, to provide a high-density multimodal dataset for examining natural behavior, learning, and development than previously possible. This paper illustrates the types of data generated from head-mounted eye tracking in a study designed to investigate visual attention in one natural context for toddlers: free-flowing toy play with a parent. Successful use of this protocol will allow researchers to collect data that can be used to answer questions not only about visual attention, but also about a broad range of other perceptual, cognitive, and social skills and their development.

Young children do not passively observe the world, but rather actively explore and engage with their environment. This protocol provides guiding principles and practical recommendations for using head-mounted eye trackers to record infants' and toddlers' dynamic visual environments and visual attention in the context of natural behavior.

Young children's visual environments are dynamic, changing moment-by-moment as children physically and visually explore spaces and objects and interact ...

Comparing Eye-tracking Data of Children with High-functioning ASD, Comorbid ADHD, and of a Control Watching Social Videos

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have sensory-perceptual processing deficits that weaken their abilities to attend and perceive social stimuli in daily living contexts. Since daily social episodes consist of subtle dynamic changes in social information, any failure to attend to or process subtle human nonverbal cues, such as facial expression, postures, and gestures, might lead to inappropriate social interaction. Traditional behavioral rating scales or assessment tools based on static social scenes have limitations in capturing the moment-to-moment changes in social scenarios. An eye-tracking assessment, which can be administered in a video-based mode, is therefore preferred, to augment clinical observation. In this study, using the single-case comparison design, the eye-tracking data of three participants, a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), another with comorbid attention deficit-hyperactive disorder (ADHD), and a neurotypical control, are captured while they view a video of social scenarios. The eye-tracking experiment has helped answer the research question: How does social attention differ between the three participants? By predefining areas of interest (AOIs), their visual attention on relevant or irrelevant social stimuli, how fast each participant attends to the first social stimuli appearing in the videos, for how long each participant continues to attend to those stimuli within the AOIs, and the gaze shifts between multiple social stimuli appearing concurrently in the same social scene are captured, compared, and analyzed in a video-based eye-tracking experiment.

This is a qualitative comparative case study analysis of eye-tracking data on the first moments of social video scenes as viewed by three participants: one with autism spectrum disorder, one with comorbid attention deficit-hyperactive disorder, and one neurotypical control.

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have sensory-perceptual processing deficits that weaken their abilities to attend and perceive ...

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

We discuss the use of the preferential looking paradigm in eye tracking studies in order to study how infants develop, understand, and attend to the world around them. Eye tracking is a safe and non-invasive way to collect gaze data from infants, and the preferential looking paradigm is simple to design and only requires the infant to be attending to the screen. By simultaneously showing two visual stimuli that differ in one dimension, we can assess whether infants show different looking behavior for either stimulus, thus demonstrating sensitivity to that difference. The challenges in such experimental approaches are that experiments must be kept brief (no more than 10 min) and be carefully controlled such that the two stimuli differ in only one way. The interpretation of null results must also be carefully considered. In this paper, we illustrate a successful example of an infant eye tracking study with a preferential looking paradigm to discover that 6-month-olds are sensitive to linguistic cues in a signed language despite having no prior exposure to signed language, suggesting that infants possess intrinsic or innate sensitivities to these cues.

Eye tracking studies using a preferential looking paradigm can be used to study infants&#39;&#160;emerging understanding of, and attention to, their external visual world.

We discuss the use of the preferential looking paradigm in eye tracking studies in order to study how infants develop, understand, and attend to the world ...

An Automated Assessment of Visual Acuity in Infants and Toddlers

An Automated Method for Assessing Visual Acuity in Infants and Toddlers Using an Eye-Tracking System

Visual acuity measurement is an important visual function test to perform in infancy and childhood. However, accurate visual acuity measurement in infants is difficult because of deficiencies in their communication ability. This paper presents a novel automated method to assess visual acuity in children (5-36 months old). This method, the automated acuity card procedure (AACP), uses a webcam for eye tracking and recognizes children's watching behaviors automatically. A two-choice preferential-looking test is performed when the tested child watches the visual stimuli shown on a high-resolution digital display screen. When the tested child watches the stimuli, their facial pictures are recorded by the webcam. These pictures are used by the set computer program to analyze their watching behavior. With this procedure, the child's eye movement responses to different stimuli are measured, and their visual acuity is assessed without communication. By comparing the results with grating acuity obtained by Teller Acuity Cards (TACs), AACP performance is deemed comparable to that of TACs.

Author Spotlight: An Automated Method for Assessing Visual Acuity in Infants and Toddlers Using an Eye-Tracking System  

In this paper, we present a novel automated method for assessing visual acuity in infants and toddlers by using an eye-tracking system.

Visual acuity measurement is an important visual function test to perform in infancy and childhood. However, accurate visual acuity measurement in infants ...

Investigating Oculomotor Responses in Visual Duration Perception Tasks

Eye Movements in Visual Duration Perception: Disentangling Stimulus from Time in Predecisional Processes

Eye-tracking methods may allow the online monitoring of cognitive processing during visual duration perception tasks, where participants are asked to estimate, discriminate, or compare time intervals defined by visual events like flashing circles. However, and to our knowledge, attempts to validate this possibility have remained inconclusive so far, and results remain focused on offline behavioral decisions made after stimulus appearance. This paper presents an eye-tracking protocol for exploring the cognitive processes preceding behavioral responses in an interval comparison task, where participants viewed two consecutive intervals and had to decide whether it speeded up (first interval longer than second) or slowed down (second interval longer). 
Our main concern was disentangling oculomotor responses to the visual stimulus itself from correlates of duration related to judgments. To achieve this, we defined three consecutive time windows based on critical events: baseline onset, the onset of the first interval, the onset of the second interval, and the end of the stimulus. We then extracted traditional oculomotor measures for each (number of fixations, pupil size) and focused on time-window-related changes to separate the responses to the visual stimulus from those related to interval comparison per se. As we show in the illustrative results, eye-tracking data showed significant differences that were consistent with behavioral results, raising hypotheses on the mechanisms engaged. This protocol is embryonic and will require many improvements, but it represents an important step forward in the current state of art.

Author Spotlight: Exploring the Link Between Time Perception of Visual Stimuli and Reading Skills

We present a protocol that employs eye tracking to monitor eye movements during an interval comparison (duration perception) task based on visual events. The aim is to provide a preliminary guide to separate oculomotor responses to duration perception tasks (comparison or discrimination of time intervals) from responses to the stimulus itself.

Eye-tracking methods may allow the online monitoring of cognitive processing during visual duration perception tasks, where participants are asked to ...

Eye Tracking in Cognitive Experiments

Eye tracking as the name suggests involves tracking of eye-movements. It is a non-invasive, sensitive tool that quantifies and measures eye-movements to describe an individuals' cognitive state. An eye-movement between two fixation points is called a saccade, which is one of the fastest motor movements in our body. By observing the profiles of these eye movements, scientists can better understand neural deficits in patients with cognitive impairments.
In this video, we will first look at an overview of different eye movements that eye tracking can capture and the type of data that can be collected. Then, the basic setup and experimental design are reviewed, including different types of eye trackers and details to optimize the eye tracking equipment. Finally, we will take a look at a few specific experiments utilizing eye tracking as a tool to study cognition.

Eye Tracking in Cognitive Experiments: Principle and Procedure

Eye tracking as the name suggests involves tracking of eye-movements. It is a non-invasive, sensitive tool that quantifies and measures eye-movements to ...