Out of the lab and into the world of games : portable dorsal stream tasks with game - like features can predict reading ability

Abstract

There is now a substantial body of evidence to suggest that visuo - spatial attention, mediated by the dorsal stream, is implicated in reading performance. A deficit in the dorsal stream has been linked with difficulty in reading accuracy, fluency or both types of reading skill. However, research in this area has thus far been undertaken in traditional, tightly controlled lab based settings. The aim of the studies in this thesis was to take the next step, and ascertain whether visual testing can occur in practical school based settings, using portable gamified tasks, and still differentiate between good and poor readers. Specially designed visual search, change detection and tracking games were developed to test unselected samples of primary school children. Children were administered a series of reading and intelligence measures, and provided with the tablet games, with game accuracy and speed performance recorded. As expected, IQ was a strong predictor of reading performance. However, performance on the visual search and change detection games explained additional unique variance in reading rate and single word reading abilities of the students tested. Poor readers were slower in their visual search speed and change detection accuracy compared to good readers. Performance on the tracking program, a new concept to the reading research field, was not correlated with reading ability. Finally, a clinical aim of this experiment was to pilot a visual training program using portable, visual search and change detection games, to determine if training could improve the performance of poor readers who demonstrated these identified visual search and change detection deficits. Utilising participants from the first round of studies, the training group was administered commercially available visual search and change detection games, and the control group played a series of puzzle type games thought to rely less on the visuo - attentional system. Both groups played these games for at least five hours over seven weeks, in blocks of 10-70 minute intervals, within the school setting, using portable computer tablets. Results revealed that the experimental group did not benefit from improved reading accuracy or rate as a result of the training provided. It is suggested that whilst visual search and change detection games can detect visuo - attentional differences, the games administered to the students (and amount of game play) did not provide the necessary challenge to the dorsal stream to elicit significant changes in reading ability. Given that portable, game - like tasks can differentiate good and poor readers in school based settings, it would be worthwhile to determine the potential to utilise these games as part of a comprehensive reading assessment. This type of non - word testing would be particularly valuable in early intervention, for its potential to identify poor readers before they learn to read. Future directions should also explore the type of games which are best suited to challenging and strengthening the visuo - attentional system, and the frequency and intensity required to encourage stable long lasting changes in reading ability.