Video comprehensibility and attention in very young children.

2016

Brain Topogr

Self Cite

This study used measures of event-related potentials (ERPs) and cortical source analysis to examine the effect of covert orienting and sustained attention on 3- and 4.5-month-old infants’ brain activity in a spatial cueing paradigm. Cortical source analysis was conducted with current density reconstruction (CDR) using realistic head models created from age-appropriate infant MRIs. The validity effect was found in the P1 ERP component that was greater for valid than neutral trials in the electrodes contralateral to the visual targets when the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was short. Cortical source analysis revealed greater current density amplitude around the P1 peak latency in the contralateral inferior occipital and ventral temporal regions for valid than neutral and invalid trials. The processing cost effect was found in the N1 ERP component that was greater for neutral than invalid trials in the short SOA condition. This processing cost effect was also shown in the current density amplitude around the N1 peak latency in the contralateral inferior and middle occipital and middle and superior temporal regions. Infant sustained attention was found to modulate infants’ brain responses in covert orienting by enhancing the P1 ERP responses and current density amplitude in their cortical sources during sustained attention. These findings suggest that the neural mechanisms that underpin covert orienting already exist in 3- to 4.5-month-olds, and they could be facilitated by infant sustained attention.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We improved the experiment procedure by using continuous presentations in the spatial cueing paradigm and interesting pictures as backgrounds (Mallin & Richards, 2012; Pempek et al, 2010; Reynolds & Richards, 2010). Experimental trials within a block were presented continuously without inter-trial gaps.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relation between Infant Covert Orienting, Sustained Attention and Brain Activity

Xie

2016

Brain Topogr

Self Cite

“…The criterion for HR acceleration was five successive beats with IBIs shorter than the median of the five preceding beats. Details about using ECG data to define attention phases in a continuous presentation paradigm have been described elsewhere (e.g., Mallin & Richards, 2012; Pempek et al, 2010). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of interstimulus intervals on behavioral, heart rate, and event‐related potential indices of infant engagement and sustained attention

Xie

2016

Psychophysiology

Self Cite

Maximizing infant attention to stimulus presentation during an EEG or ERP experiment is important for making valid inferences about the neural correlates of infant cognition. The present study examined the effects of stimulus presentation interstimulus interval (ISI) on behavioral and physiological indices of infant attention including infants’ fixation to visual presentation, the amount of heart rate (HR) change during sustained attention, and ERP components. This study compared an ISI that is typically used in infant EEG/ERP studies (e.g., 1,500–2,000 ms) with two shorter durations (400–600 ms and 600–1,000 ms). Thirty-six infants were tested cross-sectionally at 3, 4.5, and 6 months. It was found that using the short (400–600 ms) and medium (600–1,000 ms) ISIs resulted in more visually fixated trials and reduced frequency of fixation disengagement per experimental block. We also found larger HR changes during sustained attention to both of the shorter ISIs compared with the long ISI, and larger ERP responses when using the medium ISI compared to using the short and long ISIs. These data suggest that utilizing an optimal ISI (e.g., 600– 1,000 ms), which increases the presentation complexity and provides sufficient time for information processing, can promote infant engagement and sustained attention during stimulus presentation.

“…The first study studied infants at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age (Pempek, Kirkorian, Richards, Anderson, Lund, Stevens, 2009). Given the prior findings with infants in both audio-visual Sesame Street movie presentations (Richards & Cronise, 2000; Richards & Gibson, 2001), it was expected that across this age range there would be a change in the sensitivity to the elements of comprehensibility.…”

Section: Comprehensibility As One Factor Affecting Infant Attention Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of attention to simple and complex visual stimuli in infants: Behavioral and psychophysiological measures

2010

Developmental Review

Self Cite

118

The study of visual attention in infants has used presentation of single simple stimuli, multidimensional stimuli, and complex dynamic video presentations. There are both continuities and discontinuities in the findings on attention and attentiveness to stimulus complexity. A continuity is a pattern of looking that is found in the early part of infancy that remains throughout adulthood. A discontinuity is an emerging sensitivity to the content of the information in the stimulus presentations and alterations in patterns of attention based upon stimulus comprehensibility. The current paper reviews some of these findings with particular application to complex video presentations.The study of visual attention in infants has used presentations of a wide range of stimuli. The first decades of this work used simple geometric patterns in an attempt to study basic process and the development of attention. These stimuli were simple static geometric patterns or simple pictures of objects and people. The goal of this work was to characterize basic processes in infant attention and simple stimuli were used to reduce the effect of non-cognitive processes, such as social factors (faces, interpersonal social exchanges) or specific experiences of the infant (familiar or home surroundings). However, in the last few years it has been shown that the use of such stimuli might not generalize to the types of stimulus information found in the infant's environment. This has led to the use of "complex" stimuli, the use of dynamic visual patterns, and the study of attention to video programs played on television monitors.The current paper will review work using visual fixation and heart rate changes as measures of attention to visual stimuli. I will emphasize the work done in my own laboratory vis-a-vis some general work done on visual attention. This work shows both continuity from infants to adults on basic visual processes and work done with complex video stimuli, and discontinuity in attention to these types of stimuli. Early work using simple stimuliThe first work on infant visual attention examined the length of time that infants would direct their fixation to simple visual stimuli. These stimuli were typically presented on rear-projection screens with slide projectors, were achromatic, and included everything from pictures of faces, checkerboard patterns and geometric shapes, landscape scenes, to pictures of realistic objects. Because of the nature of the stimulus projection device, these pictures were "static" © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.John E. Richards, Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. Phone: 803 777 2079, Fax: 803 777 9558, richards-john@sc.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable...