Dataset Information

Attentional Flexibility Predicts A-Not-B Task Performance in 14-Month-Old-Infants: A Head-Mounted Eye Tracking Study.

ABSTRACT: Early individual differences in executive functions (EFs) are predictive of a range of developmental outcomes. However, despite the importance of EFs, little is known about the processes underlying these early individual differences. Therefore, we investigated the association between 14-month-old infants' attention on a reaching version of the A-not-B task and task success. We hypothesized that both strategic focused attention (measured as percentage looking time towards the correct location during delay) and attentional flexibility (measured as number of looks per second to available stimuli during delay) would relate positively to task performance. Infants performed the A-not-B task wearing a head-mounted eye tracker (N = 24). Results were trial-dependent and partially supported the hypotheses: (1) infants who were better able to flexibly shift attention between available stimuli on the first pre-switch trial showed better task performance overall; and (2) strategic focused attention to the hiding location during the first switch trial was positively related to performance on that particular trial only (trend-level effect). Thus, the study shows preliminary evidence that particularly attentional flexibility is a key factor underlying EF performance in young children. Advantages and challenges of working with head-mounted eye tracking in infants are discussed.

SUBMITTER: Mulder H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7288136 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Attentional Flexibility Predicts A-Not-B Task Performance in 14-Month-Old-Infants: A Head-Mounted Eye Tracking Study.

Mulder Hanna H Van Houdt Carolien A CA J M Van der Ham Ineke I Van der Stigchel Stefan S Oudgenoeg-Paz Ora O

Brain sciences 20200505 5

Early individual differences in executive functions (EFs) are predictive of a range of developmental outcomes. However, despite the importance of EFs, little is known about the processes underlying these early individual differences. Therefore, we investigated the association between 14-month-old infants' attention on a reaching version of the A-not-B task and task success. We hypothesized that both strategic focused attention (measured as percentage looking time towards the correct location dur ...[more]

PMID: 32380744

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Project description:This study offers a new method for examining the bodily, manual, and eye movements of a chimpanzee at the micro-level. A female chimpanzee wore a lightweight head-mounted eye tracker (60 Hz) on her head while engaging in daily interactions with the human experimenter. The eye tracker recorded her eye movements accurately while the chimpanzee freely moved her head, hands, and body. Three video cameras recorded the bodily and manual movements of the chimpanzee from multiple angles. We examined how the chimpanzee viewed the experimenter in this interactive setting and how the eye movements were related to the ongoing interactive contexts and actions. We prepared two experimentally defined contexts in each session: a face-to-face greeting phase upon the appearance of the experimenter in the experimental room, and a subsequent face-to-face task phase that included manual gestures and fruit rewards. Overall, the general viewing pattern of the chimpanzee, measured in terms of duration of individual fixations, length of individual saccades, and total viewing duration of the experimenter's face/body, was very similar to that observed in previous eye-tracking studies that used non-interactive situations, despite the differences in the experimental settings. However, the chimpanzee viewed the experimenter and the scene objects differently depending on the ongoing context and actions. The chimpanzee viewed the experimenter's face and body during the greeting phase, but viewed the experimenter's face and hands as well as the fruit reward during the task phase. These differences can be explained by the differential bodily/manual actions produced by the chimpanzee and the experimenter during each experimental phase (i.e., greeting gestures, task cueing). Additionally, the chimpanzee's viewing pattern varied depending on the identity of the experimenter (i.e., the chimpanzee's prior experience with the experimenter). These methods and results offer new possibilities for examining the natural gaze behavior of chimpanzees.

Dataset Information

Attentional Flexibility Predicts A-Not-B Task Performance in 14-Month-Old-Infants: A Head-Mounted Eye Tracking Study.

Publications

Attentional Flexibility Predicts A-Not-B Task Performance in 14-Month-Old-Infants: A Head-Mounted Eye Tracking Study.

Similar Datasets

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