Closely associated with our visual attention research is a technology development program. From its inception, BA&T has been applying its research findings to develop innovative technologies for detecting and diminishing attentional deficits.
Developments include:
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The first application of touch-screen technology for visual attention research. This included the pioneering integration of touch screen technology (hardware, interface, and software) in the first integrated desktop computer (HP 9845C) in the mid 1980s. Touch screens are more direct and responsive than traditional input devices, and they provide the needed precision for identifying overselective visual attention in children and for assisting in understanding conditions responsible for its occurrence.
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Sophisticated and sensitive multiple-assessment measurement techniques. A visual attention testing procedure has been developed in which two different stimulus-control testing procedures are simultaneously and automatically administered to assess how individuals attend to stimulus compounds. One test assesses stimulus control by determining response accuracy (correct versus incorrect response), while the other records response topography (which stimuli are touched) during a discrimination task. Without both, false conclusions can be made about which features control responding.
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Software technologies for assessing and remediating attentional deficits. BA&T utilizes its research findings as a foundation for developing innovative software technologies to provide effective and sensitive attentional skills assessments. This ongoing effort is providing our Psychologist with tools for early identification of attentional problems in young children. Included is an assessment of learning efficiency, which determines how quickly the child attends to the relevant features of visual materials. Also included is an assessment of the extent of overselective visual attention, which identifies whether there is restricted visual attention that can interfere with learning. A third element is an assessment of attention durability, which identifies the extent to which attentional skills are disrupted when complex educational material is presented (more). Ongoing efforts are expanding these assessment capabilities. We are also developing new training procedures that may permit individuals with developmental disabilities to acquire essential attentional skills for learning educational and vocational tasks involving complex visual material.
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