M8, T3, Dyslexia, attention and video game training

Question 1

Franceshini et al 2013, research questions

Answer 1

• Attentional dysfunction has been associated with developmental dyslexia in some individuals (Vidyasagar & Pammer, 2010)
• Reading might require efficiently orienting and focusing attention on relevant letters and words for correct grapheme to phoneme conversion
• Video game training alters visual attention (Green & Bavelier, 2003)
• Therefore, could training dyslexic children on visual attention abilities using action video games improve reading outcomes?

Question 2

Franceshini et al 2013, general method

Answer 2

• Assessed attention and reading skills in 20 dyslexic children before and after playing video games (none had experience playing action video games).
• Trained 10 children with an action video game, and 10 children with a non-action video game
• The two groups of children were matched on IQ, age, reading and phonological skills
• The two groups did not differ in their attentional or reading skills when both were measured prior to training

Question 3

Franceshini et al 2013, general method, participants and games

Answer 3

• Tested attention/reading (pre-test)
• Participants played 12 hours of video games across 9 days (9 x 80 mins daily).
  -> Mini games from Rayman’s Raving Rabbids 10 action genre games and 10 non-action genre games (training)
• Tested attention/reading (post-test)

Question 4

Attention measures Franceshini et al 2013

Answer 4

Focused attention task
Distributed attention task
Cross modal attention task

Question 5

Franceshini et al 2013 focused attention task

Answer 5

• Keep eyes on fixation point
• See a red dot
• See a string of letters like symbols followed by a mask
• Indicate the symbol that was in the same location as the red dot
• Requires orienting of narrow attention

Question 6

Franceshini et al 2013 distributed attention task

Answer 6

• Keep eyes on fixation point
• See a string of letters like symbols
• See a red dot followed by a mask
• Indicate the symbol that was in the samelocation as the red dot
• Requires broad attention

Question 7

Franceshini et al 2013 cross modal attention task

Answer 7

• Participants hear an auditory cue coming from left hand, right hand, or both sides of side screen
• Target (picture of a dog) appears in one of the two circles
• Press a button when the dog appears
• Compare RTs for times where dog appeared on same (valid) versus different side (invalid) of screen to sound
• Measures attention orienting in response to sound

Question 8

Franceshini et al 2013, reading measures

Answer 8

Reading measures included:
- Pseudo-word reading (non-lexical): Read non-words to assess phonological decoding
- Word text reading (lexical): reading fluency and errors in age standardized passages to measure “reading inefficiency”

General reading ability score calculated using both tasks.
- Ratio of the time taken to read an item by the accuracy of reading the item

Question 9

Franceshini et al 2013 summarised results

Answer 9

• Children playing AVGs showed significant improvements (in accuracy) in both the focused and distributed attention tests compared to the children playing NAVGs
• Only AVGs showed improvements in the cross modal task for pre and post training
• Only AVG show a sig improvement for pre versus post test reading tasks

Question 10

Franceshini et al 2013 in depth results

Answer 10

• Pseudo-word reading and word text reading were both significantly improved in the action video game group compared to the non-action video game group
• Increase in reading speed without a cost in accuracy
• Improvements in reading speed were bigger than those found with traditional treatments
• Follow up measures showed improvements still present 3 months after the study!
• Correlation between gains in attention and readingmeasures
• Attention improvement accounted for 50% unique variance in reading improvement

Question 11

Franceshini et al 2013, conclusions

Answer 11

• AVG training can improve reading via lexical and non lexical routes
• Suggests that attention and orthographic processing are related
• Perhaps extra large spacing between letters for dyslexic children can aid in attentional focusing and reading
• Demands of the video-game are vital for determining improvement (i.e. action over non action games)
• Action; visuo-motor control, precise aiming
• Non-action: fast motor action but not so much control