Mineo, B. A., Zeigler, W., Gill, S. & Salkin, D. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2009) 39:172-187
doi>10.1007/s10803-008-0616-0
“Studies comparing the relative appeal and impact of technology-enabled interventions are few.” This study is concerned with the relative strength of engagement of four types of video-based content presented to a heterogeneous population of 42 children with autism.
The engaging quality of video-based media, combined with the preference for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for screen media, suggest its suitability for delivering instructional material. Movies, video games and virtual reality (VR) games all exist in popular culture and can thus non-stigmatizing. Benefits of video presentation in comparison to live instruction include consistently presented, infinitely repeatable content. Screen media make good use of limited resources and can communicate visually, with or without language. Virtual reality puts the person into the game as an avatar, or some closer rendition of themselves. VR scenarios can represent unreal situations – ones that simulate impractical or dangerous real life situations. Like other video games, tasks presented in the virtual environment can be graded to accommodate the learners’ ability and feedback sculpted to be effective for that learner.
Design
To reflect the heterogeneous nature of ASD, baseline data were collected using a basket of five communication characteristics, reported in a binary fashion. Expressive language may be understood to be a predictor of functioning in the ASD population. The primary metric in selecting candidates was having an expressive lexicon of greater than 50 words and 38 of 42 participants “passed” this criteria.. Other scales included receptive lexicon, frequency of conventional yes/no use, frequency of conversation, and frequency of echolalia. Additionally, informants reported on the participants attention to and previous experience of screen media.
Individuals were sequentially assigned to one of three groups: seeing themselves doing a familiar activity ( self video), seeing a familiar other in a video game (other VR), or seeing themselves as they played a virtual reality game (self VR). Measures of engagement included gaze duration and vocalizations during a two-minute presentation of the various media. All participants watched a video movie clip to establish a baseline response level. Reliability across two raters was established. (94% for vocalizations, 86% for gaze). Scores were adjusted for baseline score, expressive language score, and age.
Findings: Gaze was significantly higher in the “self VR” condition (p = .014) than the “other VR” condition, possibly related to the novelty of the VR game, seeing themselves or being able to interact with the game. Vocalizations were significantly higher in the “other VR” condition (p = .03) than “self VR” condition due either to seeing a familiar person on the screen, seeing the game or a combination of the two. There were no other significant differences between groups. Possibly participants high attention to movie clips during the baseline exposure to a movie clip created a ceiling effect that limited the ability to demonstrate a difference compared to other conditions.
“While the study did not yield definitive data about the relative engagement potential of media alternatives it does provide a foundation for future research including guidance related to participant profiles stimulus characteristics and data coding challenges.”
Link to article: www.udel.edu/cds/downloads/Mineo_J.AutismDev.Disord_2009.pdf