An Operantly Conditioned Looking Task for Assessing Infant Auditory Processing Ability
By Nawyn, Jason; Roesler, Cynthia; Realpe-Bonilla, Teresa; Choudhury, Naseem; Benasich, April A.; ASSETS 2007 - The Ninth International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, pp. 147-154Publication Date: October 15-17, 2008
Pilot study using a gaze-driven computer interface for the assessment of rapid auditory processing abilities in infants aged 4 to 6 months. The assessment aims at detecting deficits characteristic of individuals with language-learning impairment (LLI), which will allow for implementation of early interventions during critical periods of language development. The tool comprises a remote eye tracking system with pan-tilt optics and magnetic head tracker, a designated PC for controlling the eye tracker, and a second PC for controlling the assessment software. Visual stimuli are presented on a wide-aspect LCD monitor placed before the infant seated in a high chair. For an evaluation study of the interface, 18 infants under 12 months (6 female) participated. An operant conditioning procedure was used to reinforce anticipatory eye movements in response to changes in a continuous auditory stream. Operant conditioning relies on the ability of infants to learn the association between a specific behavioral response and subsequent reinforcement. The 11-minute administration protocol consisted of a training phase, a criterion phase introducing no-change trials interspersed among the change trials, and 2 testing phases. Results showed overall group performance to be significantly higher than chance. Implications for further development of the tool are discussed.
Published by: Association for Computing Machinery (Website:http://www.acm.org)
SIGACCESS (ACM Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing) (Web Site: http://www.sigaccess.org )
Link to text: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1296843.1296869
