Silent versus Reading Out Loud modes: An eye-tracking study

The use of eye tracking in supporting individuals with dyslexia: a review

Dyslexia is defined as a specific learning disorder that impairs a person's ability to read fluently and accurately. A growing number of assistive technologies have been used to support individuals with dyslexia. Eye-tracking technology is one such technology, and it is gaining increasing attention from the research community due to its potential to be a valuable support tool for identifying underlying neural differences in language processing among this population. While the technology has seen significant advancements in recent years, researchers, particularly in psychology and special education, might face difficulties utilizing eye-tracking technology in their dyslexia research. The present study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how eye tracking is employed in this field. By analysing 71 papers, we investigated the range of dyslexia-related aspects that were addressed by eye-tracking technology, how the technology was used, and the connections between eye-tracking measurements and reading in studies including individuals with dyslexia. This review article reveals that researchers have long recognized the potential of eye tracking in dyslexia research, as evidenced by the consistent focus on this technology in relevant studies throughout the years. Our paper also indicates the value of eye-tracking technology in exploring a wide range of dyslexia-related aspects. These include reading behaviours and information searching, the impact of materials on reading performance, detection, intervention, and the evaluation of intervention outcomes. Furthermore, by exploring both the achievements and shortcomings, the paper offers a valuable roadmap for future research specifically focused on supporting individuals with dyslexia.

Relationship Between Ocular Motility and Motor Skills

The primary aim of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between ocular motility and motor skills in school-age children. Participants included 142 schoolchildren (mean age: 7.08 ± 0.61 years) who completed a computerised version of the Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test while their eye movements were recorded, and Northeastern State University College of Optometry's Oculomotor test (NSUCO). Children were classified into three groups based on their level of motor performance, which was measured by the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2). The group with typical motor performance had higher percentiles for both vertical and horizontal time, fewer errors, number of saccades, fixations, and regressions, and faster test performance. Visual test results correlate with the motor assessment outcomes; correlations are weak or moderate. Our findings emphasise the interconnectedness of motor and ocular motility. Hence, including evaluation of visual and motor proficiencies at school age would help to detect struggles in these crucial areas of development.

Integrating Cognitive Factors and Eye Movement Data in Reading Predictive Models for Children with Dyslexia and ADHD-I

This study reports on several specific neurocognitive processes and eye-tracking predictors of reading outcomes for a sample of children with Developmental Dyslexia (DD) and At-tention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder - inattentive subtype (ADHD-I) compared to typical readers. Participants included 19 typical readers, 21 children diagnosed with ADHD-I and 19 children with DD. All participants were attending 4th grade and had a mean age of 9.08 years. The psycholinguistic profile of each group was assessed using a battery of neuropsy-chological and linguistic tests. Participants were submitted to a silent reading task with lex-ical manipulation of the text. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to evaluate the predictive capability of developing dyslexia or ADHD-I based on the following measures: (a) a linguistic model that included measures of phonological awareness, rapid naming, and reading fluency and accuracy; (b) a cognitive neuropsychological model that included measures of memory, attention, visual processes, and cognitive or intellectual functioning, and (c) an additive model of lexical word properties with manipulation of word-frequency and word-length effects through eye-tracking. The additive model in conjunction with the neuropsychological model classification improved the prediction of who develops dyslexia or ADHD-I having as baseline normal readers. Several of the neuropsychological and eye-tracking variables have power to predict the degree of reading outcomes in children with learning disabilities.

Do weak readers in rural India automatically read same language subtitles on Bollywood films? An eye gaze analysis

Same Language Subtitling (SLS) of audio-visual content on mainstream TV entertainment to improve mass reading literacy was first conceived and piloted in India. SLS is now being scaled up nationally to ensure that the reading skills of one billion TV viewers, including 600 million weak readers, remain on a lifelong pathway to practice, progress, and proficiency. Will weak readers ignore or try to read along with SLS? Our eye-tracking study investigates this question with 136 weak readers drawn from a remote village in Rajasthan state by showing them popular Hindi film clips of dialog and songs, with and without SLS. We developed an interactive web-based visual analytics tool for exploring eye-tracking data. Based on an analysis of fixations, saccades, and time spent in the subtitle and non-subtitle areas, our main finding is that 70 percent of weak readers engaged in unprompted reading while watching film clips with SLS. We observed that saccadic eye movement is a good indicator to quantify the amount of reading with SLS, and saccadic regression can further differentiate weak readers. Eye-tracking studies of weak readers watching subtitles are rare, and ours may be the first with subjects from rural India.

Eye Movements during Reading and their Relationship to Reading Assessment Outcomes in Swedish Elementary School Children

The characteristics of children's eye movements during reading change as they gradually become better readers. However, few eye tracking studies have investigated children's reading and reading development and little is known about the relationship between reading- related eye movement measures and reading assessment outcomes. We recorded and analyzed three basic eye movement measures in an ecologically valid eye-tracking set-up. The participants were Swedish children (n = 2876) who were recorded in their normal school environment. The relationship between eye movements and reading assessment outcomes was analyzed in using linear mixed effects models. We found similar age-related changes in eye movement characteristics as established in previous studies, and that eye movements seem to correlate with reading outcome measures. Additionally, our results show that eye movements predict the results on several tests from a word reading assessment. Hence eye tracking may potentially be a useful tool in assessing reading development.

Effects of word length and word frequency among dyslexic, ADHD-I and typical readers

This study aimed to investigate the neuropsycholinguistic functioning of children with Developmental Dyslexia (DD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder - inattentive subtype (ADHD-I) in a reading task. The psycholinguistic profile of both groups was assessed using a battery of neuropsychological and linguistic tests and compared to typical readers. Participants were submitted to a silent reading task with lexical manipulation of the text. Eye movements were recorded and compared aiming to find cognitive processes involved in reading that could help differentiate groups. The study examined whether word-frequency and word-length effects distinguish between groups. Participants included 19 typical readers, 21 children diagnosed with ADHD-I and 19 children with DD. All participants were attending 4th grade and had a mean age of 9.08 years. Children with DD and ADHDI exhibited significant different cognitive and linguistic profiles on almost all measures evaluated when compared to typical readers. The effects of word length and word frequency interaction also differed significantly in the 3 experimental groups. The results support the multiple cognitive deficits theory. While the shared deficits support the evidence of a phonological disorder present in both conditions, the specific ones corroborate the hypothesis of an oculomotor dysfunction in DD and a visuo-spatial attention dysfunction in ADHD.