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. 2014 Jun;30(2):147-59.
doi: 10.3109/07434618.2014.904923. Epub 2014 Apr 29.

Eye tracking as a measure of receptive vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorders

Nancy C Brady  1 , Christa J Anderson, Laura J Hahn, Sara M Obermeier, Leah L Kapa
Affiliations

Eye tracking as a measure of receptive vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorders

Nancy C Brady et al. Augment Altern Commun. 2014 Jun.

Abstract

This study examined the utility of eye tracking research technology to measure speech comprehension in 14 young boys with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 15 developmentally matched boys with typical development. Using eye tracking research technology, children were tested on individualized sets of known and unknown words, identified based on their performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Children in both groups spent a significantly longer amount of time looking at the target picture when previous testing indicated the word was known (known condition). Children with ASD spent similar amounts of time looking at the target and non-target pictures when previous testing indicated the word was unknown (unknown condition). However, children with typical development looked longer at the target pictures in the unknown condition as well, potentially suggesting emergent vocabulary knowledge.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders; Eye tracking; Receptive language; Speech comprehension.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean looking time in seconds to target and non-target regions of interest for both known and unknown conditions for children with ASD. Looking to non-target regions were adjusted for relative size.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean looking time in seconds to target and non-target regions of interest for both known and unknown conditions for children with typical development. Looking to non-target regions were adjusted for relative size.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Example of gaze patterns to known and unknown words.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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