Eye-tracking the emergence of attentional anchors in a mathematics learning tablet activity

Little is known about micro-processes by which sensorimotor interaction gives rise to conceptual development. Per embodiment theory, these micro-processes are mediated by dynamical attentional structures. Accordingly this study investigated eye-gaze behaviors during engagement in solving tablet-based bimanual manipulation tasks designed to foster proportional reasoning. Seventy-six elementary- and vocational-school students (9-15 yo) participated in individual task-based clinical interviews. Data gathered included action-logging, eye-tracking, and videography. Analyses revealed the emergence of stable eye-path gaze patterns contemporaneous with first enactments of effective manipulation and prior to verbal articulations of manipulation strategies. Characteristic gaze patterns included consistent or recurring attention to screen locations that bore non-salient stimuli or no stimuli at all yet bore invariant geometric relations to dynamical salient features. Arguably, this research validates empirically hypothetical constructs from constructivism, particularly reflective abstraction

A DIGITAL APPLICATION FOR ASSESSMENT OF NEUROCOGNITIVE DISABILITIES

Background: Neuropsychological assessment is designed to identify neurocognitive impairment and has traditionally relied on pen-and-paper tests. The behavior collected from these tests is usually expressed as a total summary score or a score that reflects a restricted number of features that assess errors. There is now interest in coupling traditional paper and pencil tests with digital assessment technology. In this context traditional metrics such as summary scores are still available. However, using digital technology, a host of time-based parameters can now be obtained. These time-based parameters include the total time to complete the task or total time to completion, as well the time necessary to generate all responses within a task or test trial. In addition to a wealth of highly nuance data, audio and video files of patients\u27 behavior can be created. This permits subsequent, downstream data mining to uncover and discover new features and variables of interest. Digital assessment platforms are reliable and inexpensive and can be deployed in virtually any clinical situation such as a comprehensive, outpatient dementia evaluation where detailed assessment is conducted, as well as in a primary medical care setting to screen for neurocognitive difficulty associated with chronic or acute medical illness. Cardiovascular risks such as hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and diabetes are common if not endemic. In addition to increasing the risk for heart attack and stroke, it is now commonly understood that cardiovascular risks also convey risk for dementia such as Alzheimer\u27s disease. Indeed, most insidious onset dementia illness presents with some degree of vascular alteration in the brain. Moreover, chronic cardiovascular is now well known to associate with a variety of neuropsychological disabilities such as executive control. Objectives: The current research presents data on the Philadelphia Pointing Span Test (PPST), a digital test designed to measure executive abilities. The current research tested two predictions. The first prediction is that indices from the PPST measuring auditory span and mental manipulation will be related to other indices that assess executive abilities, providing some evidence for criterion validity of the PPST as an executive measure. The second prediction is to assess the degree digitally administered and scored PPST indices are related to cardiovascular risks. Methods: Fifty-one patients from an outpatient ambulatory medical practice were recruited. All participants were assessed with the PPST and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Statistical analyses of MoCA test performance resulted in neuropsychological indices measuring executive, language, and memory abilities. The PPST was implemented onto an iPad application capable of tracking accuracy and latency between responses. PPST outcome variables of interest included ANY ORDER and SERIAL Order recall, measures of executive abilities related to auditory span and mental manipulation, respectively; and the latency to generate all responses. Results: Consistent with our first prediction, PPST SERIAL ORDER recall was correlated to the MoCA executive index where reduced MoCA executive performance was seen along with reduced PPST SERIAL ORDER recall. Consistent with our second prediction slower or longer latencies from selected PPST tests items were associated with greater cardiovascular risk. Conclusions: The PPST, a digitally administered and scored test, appears to provide an efficient assessment of executive abilities. The relationship between PPST performance and cardiovascular risk suggests that the PPST may be means to screen for neuropsychological difficulty as related to medical illness in a primary care setting

Exposing piaget's scheme: Empirical evidence for the ontogenesis of coordination in learning a mathematical concept

The combination of two methodological resources-natural-user interfaces (NUI) and multimodal learning analytics (MMLA)-is creating opportunities for educational researchers to empirically evaluate seminal models for the hypothetical emergence of concepts from situated sensorimotor activity. 76 participants (9-14 yo) solved tablet-based non-symbolic manipulation tasks designed to foster grounded meanings for the mathematical concept of proportional equivalence. Data gathered in task-based semi-structured clinical interviews included action logging, eye-gaze tracking, and videography. Successful task performance coincided with spontaneous appearance of stable dynamical gaze-path patterns soon followed by multimodal articulation of strategy. Significantly, gaze patterns included uncued non-salient screen locations. We present cumulative results to argue that these 'attentional anchors' mediated participants' problem solving. We interpret the findings as enabling us to revisit, support, refine, and elaborate on central claims of Piaget's theory of genetic epistemology and in particular his insistence on the role of situated motor-action coordination in the process of reflective abstraction

The Return of a Voice: Implementing Smart Technology to Provide an Outlet that Aids in Communication for Non-Verbal Children with Autism

The Current state of communication based software designed to aid those with non-verbal autism is extremely limited or overly complex. The purpose of this research is to look into the world of communication based software aids that provide accessibility options for those with non-verbal autism. This paper looks to assess what is currently availability draw conclusions regarding gaps within the research and technology in order to derive a solution in the form of a mobile phone application that can serve to fill in the aforementioned gaps. The major focus of this study is to pinpoint exactly what elements of design work best regarding UI, UX, and aesthetics along with which elements do not. The goal is to then synthesize and amalgamate these elements into a visual solution that can serve the designated demographic in the best way possible. This thesis study looks at several different cases regarding accessibility based technology and draws many of its conclusions from the success rate of these projects in order to find what is believed to be the best solution in the form of a multi-platform mobile phone application that is both easy to use and widely distributed