The added value of eye-tracking in diagnosing dyscalculia: a case study

Abstract

The present study compared eye movements and performance of a 9-year-old girl with Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) on a series of number line tasks to those of a group of typically developing (TD) children (n = 10), in order to answer the question whether eye-tracking data from number line estimation tasks can be a useful tool to discriminate between TD children and children with a number processing deficit. Quantitative results indicated that the child with dyscalculia performed worse on all symbolic number line tasks compared to the control group, indicated by a low linear fit (R2) and a low accuracy measured by mean percent absolute error. In contrast to the control group, her magnitude representations seemed to be better represented by a logarithmic than a linear fit. Furthermore, qualitative analyses on the data of the child with dyscalculia revealed more unidentifiable fixation patterns in the processing of multi-digit numbers and more dysfunctional estimation strategy use in one third of the estimation trials as opposed to ~10% in the control group. In line with her dyscalculia diagnosis, these results confirm the difficulties with spatially representing and manipulating numerosities on a number line, resulting in inflexible and inadequate estimation or processing strategies. It can be concluded from this case study that eye-tracking data can be used to discern different number processing and estimation strategies in TD children and children with a number processing deficit. Hence, eye-tracking data in combination with number line estimation tasks might be a valuable and promising addition to current diagnostic measures.

Exploring the numerical mind by eye-tracking: a special issue

“…Eye movement recording yields access to the infant's mind or provides information about specific task strategies that cannot be extracted from response times or error rates alone (Bahnmueller et al, 2016;Ganor-Stern and Weiss, 2016;Macci Cassia et al, 2016;Van't Noordende et al, 2016). Moreover, the studies reported here shed new light on the temporal development of spatial-numerical associations during single number processing and arithmetic performance (Hartmann et al, 2016;Myachykov et al, 2016;Yu et al, 2016).…”

“…The knowledge of successful task strategies derived from eye movement analyses (cf. Ganor-Stern and Weiss, 2016;van't Noordende et al, 2016) might then be used for the development of training interventions; in turn, the success of these interventions can then be determined through eye-tracking.…”

“…Increased knowledge about the ''normal'' development of numerical concepts in children (e.g., the age-dependent use of different strategies in the number-line estimation task) enables researchers to diagnose children with mathematical disabilities (van Viersen, Slot, Kroesbergen, Van't Noordende, & Leseman, 2013). Van't Noordende et al (2016, this issue) make use of the added value of eyetracking in order to better understand why children with developmental dyscalculia (i.e., difficulties in learning or comprehending arithmetic) perform worse in the numberline estimation task than children with typical mathematical development.…”

Numerical Development - From cognitive functions to neural underpinnings

“…Importantly, however, Haase et al (2014) concluded that subtypes of MLD may not only be associated with content-related deficits but also more general impairments of information processing should be considered. In line with this view, Van Viersen et al (2013) suggested that evaluating eyefixation behavior may provide interesting new insights into the mechanisms underlying DD. In their Opinion, Kaufmann et al (2013) argue that MLD/DD is a heterogeneous disorder resulting from individual differences in development or function at neuroanatomical, neuropsychological, behavioral, and interactional levels.…”

Children’s early mathematics learning and development : Number game interventions and number line estimations

“…In future research, interviews and observations with children regarding their number line estimations would give an additional contribution to the field which could provide new perspectives on and immerse our understanding about children's number line estimates and representations of number (see also Peeters et al 2015). Further, eye-tracking (Schneider et al, 2008;van Viersen, Slot, Kroesbergen, van't Noordende, & Leseman, 2013) could also be used to confirm the use of reference points and possible additional referents assumed to influence children's number line estimations.…”