Cognitive Neurodynamics

, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp 61–73 | Cite as

Eye movement dynamics and cognitive self-organization in typical and atypical development

  • Daniel Mirman
  • Julia R. Irwin
  • Damian G. Stephen
Research Article
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

This study analyzed distributions of Euclidean displacements in gaze (i.e. “gaze steps”) to evaluate the degree of componential cognitive constraints on audio-visual speech perception tasks. Children performing these tasks exhibited distributions of gaze steps that were closest to power-law or lognormal distributions, suggesting a multiplicatively interactive, flexible, self-organizing cognitive system rather than a component-dominant stipulated cognitive structure. Younger children and children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibited distributions that were closer to power-law than lognormal, indicating a reduced degree of self-organized structure. The relative goodness of lognormal fit was also a significant predictor of ASD, suggesting that this type of analysis may point towards a promising diagnostic tool. These results lend further support to an interaction-dominant framework that casts cognitive processing and development in terms of self-organization instead of fixed components and show that these analytical methods are sensitive to important developmental and neuropsychological differences.

Keywords

Interaction-dominance Self-organization Development Autism Eye movements 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute and National Institutes of Health grant R03DC007339 (J. Irwin, PI) to Haskins Laboratories. We thank Jessica Hafetz and James Dixon for their helpful suggestions.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  • Daniel Mirman
    • 1
  • Julia R. Irwin
    • 2
    • 3
  • Damian G. Stephen
    • 4
  1. 1.Moss Rehabilitation Research InstituteElkins ParkUSA
  2. 2.Haskins LaboratoriesNew HavenUSA
  3. 3.Southern Connecticut State UniversityNew HavenUSA
  4. 4.Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired EngineeringBostonUSA

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