Object permanence and the development of attention capacity in preterm and term infants: an eye-tracking study

Ryu, Hokyoung; Han, Garam; Choi, Jaeran; Park, Hyun Kyung; Kim, Mi Jung; Ahn, Dong Hyun; Lee, Hyun Ju

doi:10.1186/s13052-017-0408-2

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Indeed, very preterm children showed more and shorter fixations in non-symbolic magnitude comparison tasks [ 22 ]. These results seem to be in line with previous studies on infant preterm children that showed that before 12 months of age, preterm infants tended to spend less time focusing on the referential object/target [ 40 , 41 , 42 ], interpreted as poor attentional control and/or inhibition deficits.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Eye-Movements in a Text Reading Task: A Comparison of Preterm Children, Children with Dyslexia and Typical Readers

et al. 2023

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Preterm birth is associated with weaknesses in reading skills that are usually less severe than those of children with dyslexia. To understand the characteristics of reading processes in preterm children, we adopted a cross-population and multi-modal approach comparing eye movements in reading tasks among three groups: children with preterm birth, children with a diagnosis of dyslexia, and children with typical development. The study involved 78 participants (10.5 years). Eye movements (number and duration of fixations, amplitude and number of saccades, number of regressions) were recorded during the silent reading of two texts; cognitive and reading standardized tasks were also administered. Children with dyslexia had more fixations and more frequent and smaller saccades compared to the preterm group and children with typical development. They also showed more regressions compared to the control group. Preterm children showed shorter fixations compared to the other groups. Cognitive and reading standardized tasks confirmed severe delays in reading in children with dyslexia and some weaknesses in text reading speed and comprehension in preterm children. These results are discussed with reference to candidate mechanisms that underlie reading processes in preterm children and considering possible implications for research.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Eye-Movements in a Text Reading Task: A Comparison of Preterm Children, Children with Dyslexia and Typical Readers

et al. 2023

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“…At 6 and 12 months, preterm infants (<37 weeks of gestation) showed an atypical pattern in gaze behavior, with less time spent looking at dynamic human images and gaze following, in comparison to full-term peers (Imafuku et al, 2017). This atypical pattern was confirmed by another study, where very preterm infants spent less time looking at the referential object than full-term infants at 6 and 10 months (Ryu et al, 2017). At 12 months, authors confirmed emerging deficits in attention control in very preterm infants, with less time spent focusing on the target and slower shifting of attention (Downes et al, 2018).…”

Section: Eye-tracking Studiesmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…These results added to our understanding of atypical patterns of exploration in very preterm children at school age. Indeed, the studies using eye tracker in very preterm populations have been carried out in the first years of life, and they found atypical patterns in gaze behavior (i.e., less time spent looking at the referential object and the target; Downes et al, 2018; Ryu et al, 2017). Our study provided support for Clark et al’s (2017) suggestion that less efficient basic numerical skills occurred in this population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnitude Comparisons, Number Knowledge and Calculation in VeryPreterm Children and Children With Specific Learning Disability: A Cross-Population Study Using Eye-Tracking

et al. 2020

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Difficulties in mathematics have been described in very preterm children, but their origins are not well understood and may differ from other populations with specific learning disability. Very preterm children, children with learning disability, and typically developing children were compared in mathematics skills, using standardized tools, experimental tasks, and eye-tracker measures. We assessed symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude comparisons, number knowledge, calculation, as well as cognitive skills of 103 Italian-speaking fourth and fifth graders. Compared to typically developing peers, very preterm children showed delays in number knowledge, slower reaction times in nonsymbolic magnitude comparisons, and an atypical gaze exploration characterized by more and shorter fixations that lacked a target preference. The profile of mathematics skills of very preterm children appeared different from that of children with learning disability. Although both populations showed mainly preserved cognitive skills and slower reaction times in nonsymbolic magnitude comparisons, children with specific learning disability showed more severe impairments in calculation and were slower in symbolic magnitude comparisons, compared to very preterm children. Including eye-tracking measures in preterm follow-up programs and planning tailored interventions are recommended.

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“…Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, computerised training programmes have been tested with ex-preterm children [4,72], but not with ex-preterm infants and toddlers. Finally, few studies have used eye-tracking methods to examine preterm infants' attention abilities [25,35,59,67]. Our overarching aim was thus to test the feasibility of delivering the computerised ACT to VP infants.…”

Section: Aims Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Very preterm infants engage in an intervention to train their control of attention: results from the feasibility study of the Attention Control Training (ACT) randomised trial

Perra

Wass

McNulty³

et al. 2021

Pilot Feasibility Stud

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Background Very premature birth (gestational age between 28 and 31 + 6 weeks) is associated with increased risk of cognitive delay and attention deficit disorder, which have been linked to anomalies in the development of executive functions (EFs) and their precursors. In particular, very preterm (VP) infants display anomalies in controlling attention and gathering task-relevant information. Early interventions that support attention control may be pivotal in providing a secure base for VP children’s later attainments. The Attention Control Training (ACT) is a cognitive training intervention that targets infants’ abilities to select visual information according to varying task demands but had not been tested in VP infants. We conducted a feasibility study to test the processes we intend to use in a trial delivering the ACT to VP infants. Methods and design We tested recruitment and retention of VP infants and their families in a randomised trial, as well as acceptability and completion of baseline and outcome measures. To evaluate these aims, we used descriptive quantitative statistics and qualitative methods to analyse feedback from infants’ caregivers. We also investigated the quality of eye-tracking data collected and indicators of infants’ engagement in the training, using descriptive statistics. Results Twelve VP infants were recruited, and 10 (83%) completed the study. Participants’ parents had high education attainment. The rate of completion of baseline and outcome measures was optimal. VP infants demonstrated engagement in the training, completing on average 84 min of training over three visits, and displaying improved performance during this training. Eye-tracking data quality was moderate, but this did not interfere with infants’ engagement in the training. Discussion The results suggest the ACT can be delivered to VP infants. However, challenges remain in recruitment of numerous and diverse samples. We discuss strategies to overcome these challenges informed by results of this study. Trial registration Registered Registration ID: NCT03896490. Retrospectively registered at Clinical Trials Protocol Registration and Results System (clinicaltrials.gov).

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Object permanence and the development of attention capacity in preterm and term infants: an eye-tracking study

Cited by 6 publications

References 34 publications

Eye-Movements in a Text Reading Task: A Comparison of Preterm Children, Children with Dyslexia and Typical Readers

Eye-Movements in a Text Reading Task: A Comparison of Preterm Children, Children with Dyslexia and Typical Readers

Magnitude Comparisons, Number Knowledge and Calculation in VeryPreterm Children and Children With Specific Learning Disability: A Cross-Population Study Using Eye-Tracking

Very preterm infants engage in an intervention to train their control of attention: results from the feasibility study of the Attention Control Training (ACT) randomised trial

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