Eye Movement Patterns and Approximate Number Sense Task Performance in Williams Syndrome and Down Syndrome: A Developmental Perspective.
Jo Van Herwegen, Erica Ranzato, Annette Karmiloff-Smith and 1 others
PMID 31270701WHAT IT FOUND
Older participants with Williams or Down syndrome looked at the number task similarly to control groups.
In Williams syndrome only, shorter fixations related to better number performance. This does not show an eye-movement treatment works.
Key findings
01During the approximate number sense task, eye movement measures did not differ between the Williams syndrome, Down syndrome, chronological-age control, and mental-age control groups.
02In the Williams syndrome group, older participants had more fixations that were shorter and also shorter first fixations.
03In the Williams syndrome group, shorter average fixation durations were associated with better approximate number sense performance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample was small and had a wide age range, which may have masked group differences. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show how eye movements or number sense change over time. Two Down syndrome participants were excluded because eye-tracking data could not be obtained in more than a third of the trials. The mental-age control group was much younger than the disorder groups, so age comparisons are not straightforward. No independent attention measure was included, so the eye movement differences with age cannot be explained as task approach or basic eye movement ability. The dot displays were shown for only a short time, which may have prevented detecting sustained attention differences in Down syndrome. The paper suggests possible interventions, but it did not test any treatment.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the British Academy. No other conflicts are reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that eye movement training can improve number sense in Williams syndrome. The study found no group differences in eye movements, and the link between shorter fixations and better performance was not tested as a treatment.