Visual perception of texts in different visual formats: A study of children with mental disability

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a study of visual perception in mentally retarded children using the EyeTech VT3 mini IT tracker with a sampling frequency of 60 Hz and MangoldVision software. The survey involved 31 primary schoolchildren aged 8–11 (9.5 ± 0.8 years) diagnosed with mental retardation (F70) according to the international classification of diseases (ICD-10). The control group consisted of 42 students aged 8–9 (8.5 ± 0.5 years) with normative development and students from a gymnasium specializing in the English language. The stimulus material included five texts in various visual formats adapted in terms of content and volume (55 words). The oculomotor activity patterns were evaluated using the hardware method of recording eye movements. The parameters analyzed included reading duration, total number of fixations on the text, average duration of fixations, average amplitude of saccades. The analysis concerned spatial and temporal parameters of the oculomotor activity of students with mild mental retardation when reading aloud texts in various visual formats. It was found that texts with a shortened line length, highlighted syllables and black background could be considered the easiest for children with mild mental retardation. In contrast, reading illustrated texts takes more time and effort.