Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
J Psycholinguist Res. 2020 Jun;49(3):491-507. doi: 10.1007/s10936-020-09705-8.
Children with reading difficulties (RD) share challenges in executive functions (EF). Neurobiological correlates provide evidence for EF challenges during reading among these readers, but an online cognitive load detection mechanism has yet to be developed. Nevertheless, eye-movement tracking can provide online data of reading patterns (pupil dilation, fixations) and, indeed, atypical eye-movement patterns of children with RD during reading have been documented. To identify eye-movement patterns related to increased cognitive load during reading in children with RD compared to typical readers, eye movements of 8-12-year-old English-speaking children were recorded during their reading of sentences with increasing difficulty (sentences that make sense, then sentences that do not make sense) and comparing incorrect and correct responses. Children with RD demonstrated greater pupil dilation when reading sentences that make sense than when reading sentences that do not make sense and also when reading incorrectly, compared to typical readers. Increased pupil dilation in children with RD when reading sentences correctly was positively correlated with phonological awareness capabilities. Higher phonological awareness and reading abilities were related to increased pupil dilation only in children with RD during correct reading, which is related to a heavier cognitive load. Results suggest that in addition to traditional findings of altered fixation patterns in children with RD, increased pupil dilation during reading may reflect EF challenges among this population. These findings can potentially be used to adapt online written materials for children with RD based on their fixation and pupil dilation patterns.
阅读困难儿童（RD）在执行功能（EF）方面存在共同挑战。神经生物学相关性为这些读者在阅读过程中面临 EF 挑战提供了证据，但尚未开发出在线认知负荷检测机制。然而，眼动追踪可以提供阅读模式的在线数据（瞳孔扩张、注视），并且已经记录了 RD 儿童在阅读过程中异常的眼动模式。为了确定与 RD 儿童阅读时认知负荷增加相关的眼动模式，记录了 8-12 岁讲英语的儿童在阅读句子时的眼动情况，这些句子的难度逐渐增加（有意义的句子，然后是没有意义的句子），并比较了错误和正确的反应。与典型读者相比，RD 儿童在阅读有意义的句子时比阅读无意义的句子时，以及在阅读错误时，瞳孔扩张更大。与典型读者相比，RD 儿童在阅读正确句子时瞳孔扩张增加，与语音意识能力呈正相关。较高的语音意识和阅读能力仅与 RD 儿童在正确阅读时瞳孔扩张增加有关，这与认知负荷增加有关。研究结果表明，除了 RD 儿童的固定模式改变的传统发现外，阅读时瞳孔扩张增加可能反映了该人群的 EF 挑战。这些发现可用于根据 RD 儿童的注视和瞳孔扩张模式为他们调整在线书面材料。
