Molly Niemczyk
Rockdale Magnet School
2013-2014
INTRODUCTION
Dyslexia: impaired ability to understand written language (Soukhanov, 1999)
•
Common characteristics: difficulty manipulating sounds, difficulty spelling,
erratic speech (National institute of, 2011)
•
Looking for dyslexia: ability to read, write, spell, or do math, memory,
sequencing skills, hand/eye coordination, school records, family disorders
•
Primary dyslexia: does not change with age; caused by malfunction in left
side of brain
Common Tests used to Diagnose Dyslexia
⁻
TVPS-3: black-and-white perceptual tasks in progressing order, multiplechoice
⁻
DST: reading programs, words decoded using phonic patterns, story
passages; useful with previously known reading disability
⁻
CASL: 15 stand-alone multiple choice tests for ages 3 to 21
⁻
DESD: sight-word recognition (Martin, N.)
•
•
•
Traditional dyslexia tests can be dull, time-consuming; a dyslexia test using
video (television) would be more enjoyable, low-cost, accurate
Objective: to see if there is a significant difference in dyslexic and
nondyslexic eye movement
HYPOTHESES
•
Research hypothesis: If both dyslexics and those without dyslexia
•
Null hypothesis: If both dyslexics and those without dyslexia
watch the same video, dyslexics will display different eye
movements than those without dyslexia.
watch the same video, dyslexics will not display different eye
movements than those without dyslexia.
Definitions
⁻
Gaze Event- Every time the eyes fixate on a point for any amount
of time
⁻
Primary dyslexia- Not contagious or developed after birth,
passed down genetically, people diagnosed young
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
•
•
•
•
•
•
Less gray matter (processes information) in left parietotemporal
area of brain (controls sensory perceptions, spoken and written
language) than nondyslexics (Booth & Burman, 2001)
Less white matter (associated with reading skills) in same area
(Deutsch, et. al, 2005)
Different erratic eye movement following light sources (Pavlidis,
1981).
Difference when reading (De luca, et. al, 2002)
ADHD, FASD, Parkinson’s Disease: involve “ocular control and
attention dysfunctions” (Janice, 2012), diagnosed tracking eyes.
Autism: affects eye movement (Jones & Klin, 2013), diagnosed
tracking eyes
PROCEDURES
Materials:
•
Nikon Coolpix S5200
•
Gateway Laptop
•
T120
•
Tobii Studio
•
Windows Movie Maker
Procedures:
•
Film ten 30-second videos of moving objects
•
Randomly cut to clip snippets, producing sixty 5-second
snippets (Tseng, Cameron, Pari, Reynolds, Munoz & Itti, 2012)
•
Reassemble to create 5-minute black and white video
•
10 dyslexic adults, 10 nondyslexic adults watch video for 5
minutes while eye movements are recorded and examined by
T120 (Janice, 2012)
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
DIAGRAM
The Effect of Dyslexia on Eye Movement
If both dyslexics and those without dyslexia watch the same visual media,
dyslexics will show different eye movements than those without dyslexia.
Independent Variable (IV): Whether or not the patient has dyslexia
Levels of the IV:
Without Dyslexia
(control)
Trials:
10 (4 men, 6 women) 10 (2 men, 8 women)
Dependent Variable (DV): Eye movement
Constants: Video
With Dyslexia
DATA ANALYSIS
•
Tested variation among the two groups using ANOVA Test
Test showed research was significant
•
F=52976.1; df=1; p>.05
•
Gaze plots showing averaged fixation points of eyes of each participant. Color
represents each person, circles represent fixation points, a circle’s size
represents duration of that fixation- (bigger circle means longer focus)
No Dyslexia
Dyslexia
No Dyslexia gaze plot overlapping
Dyslexia gaze plot
Heat maps showing averaged focus of eyes of each participant. Red means area
was focused on most; green means area was focused on less.
No Dyslexia
Dyslexia
No Dyslexia heat map
overlapping Dyslexia heat map
Histogram showing gaze event duration (ms) of dyslexics
and nondyslexics. Lines closer to y-axis indicate shorter
gaze event durations (how long person focused on one
area). Lines further away from y-axis indicate longer gaze
event durations.
CONCLUSION
•
•
•
Research hypothesis was supported: dyslexia had significant
impact on eye movements of participants when watching video
Gaze durations of dyslexics are significantly longer than
nondyslexics when reading (MacKeben et al., 2013)
Results show dyslexics’ gaze durations were shorter more often
than nondyslexics’; nondyslexics had longest gaze durations of
the two groups
FUTURE RESEARCH
Continue looking into using video as a diagnostic tool
Preliminary Bell Curve
•
95% with dyslexia at 53,292 ms
•
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to…
•
Mr. John Hendrix and Mr. Scott Bolen of The Rockdale Magnet
School for Science and Technology for providing the guidance to
make this project possible
•
The Tobii Company for providing the T120 and software
•
Ms. Michelle Faraj and Mr. Vijar Patel of Tobii Company for
helping to provide the T120 and technical support
•
Ms. Ann Marie Lewis of the International Dyslexia Association for
finding an Adult Dyslexia Program for this project
•
Ms. Foster Soules of The Schenck School and Mr. Sherman
Johnson for finding willing volunteers
STUDENT
ACCOMPLISHEMENTS/
ACTIVITIES
•
•
•
•
•
•
1st Place Regional Science Fair
Grand Champion
American Psychological Association Award
Air Force Award
Invited to the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary
Schools of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (NCSSSMST)
Convention in Louisville, Kentucky
Selected to participate in the Georgia Junior Science &
Humanities Symposium (GJSHS)
STUDENT
ACCOMPLISHEMENTS/
ACTIVITIES
•
•
•
•
•
Cast in “Shrek the Musical” as Teen Fiona.
Currently a Peer Mentor chairman (9th-10th) on the Encourage
the Heart Committee.
MASA representative for the Debate Team
Part of the 2013-2014 Yearbook staff, Tempus Fugit.
Participate on the Math Team and Debate Team.
STUDENT
ACCOMPLISHEMENTS/
ACTIVITIES
•
•
•
State nominee for the Governor's Honor’s Program
(GHP) in the Music-Voice category
Have participated in (or will participate in) the All State Chorus
as a 1st Soprano during my 8th, 9th, and 10th grade years.
Participate in RCHS’s Chorus program, as well as the choir at my
church.
There I am!
STUDENT
ACCOMPLISHEMENTS/
ACTIVITIES
•
Besides school activities, I also spend a lot of time at my church
with the kids. I watch them during some of the services, and
work with them during Vacation Bible School in the summer.
Molly Niemczyk
Rockdale Magnet School
2013-2014