Visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities: a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologies
IntroductionThe percentage of college students with disabilities has been growing and has doubled in the last two decades; thus, students with disabilities are pursuing college degrees in increasing numbers. Unfortunately, this population growth has not been matched with growth in available accommod...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
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| author | Anders Chan Anders Chan Zachary I. Harkinish-Murray Zachary I. Harkinish-Murray Sabrina Colmone Sabrina Colmone Jessica E. Orens Jessica E. Orens Sharon Thomas Sharon Thomas Nicole Albanese Nicole Albanese Katherine McCabe Katherine McCabe Rui Freitas Rui Freitas Stephanie P. Bailey Stephanie P. Bailey Ravi L. Ramdhari Ravi L. Ramdhari Michael T. Verrengia Michael T. Verrengia Kainaat F. Siddiqui Kainaat F. Siddiqui Oscar E. Lopez Oscar E. Lopez Stacey DeFelice Basabi Runi Mukherji Basabi Runi Mukherji Lorenz S. Neuwirth Lorenz S. Neuwirth |
| author_facet | Anders Chan Anders Chan Zachary I. Harkinish-Murray Zachary I. Harkinish-Murray Sabrina Colmone Sabrina Colmone Jessica E. Orens Jessica E. Orens Sharon Thomas Sharon Thomas Nicole Albanese Nicole Albanese Katherine McCabe Katherine McCabe Rui Freitas Rui Freitas Stephanie P. Bailey Stephanie P. Bailey Ravi L. Ramdhari Ravi L. Ramdhari Michael T. Verrengia Michael T. Verrengia Kainaat F. Siddiqui Kainaat F. Siddiqui Oscar E. Lopez Oscar E. Lopez Stacey DeFelice Basabi Runi Mukherji Basabi Runi Mukherji Lorenz S. Neuwirth Lorenz S. Neuwirth |
| author_sort | Anders Chan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionThe percentage of college students with disabilities has been growing and has doubled in the last two decades; thus, students with disabilities are pursuing college degrees in increasing numbers. Unfortunately, this population growth has not been matched with growth in available accommodative technologies in institutions of higher learning. Colleges and universities often do not have resources to fund and provide specific accommodative technology and support for this steadily increasing population. What is worse is that there is also a lag in emergent assessment and screening tools which are required to match student disabilities with appropriate accommodative technologies, resulting in a mismatch between student needs with appropriate accommodative technologies. The present pilot study was conducted with students with a range of disabilities, such as learning disabilities, emotional or psychiatric conditions, orthopedic or mobility impairments, attention-deficit disorder/attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, health impairments (HI), and multiple disabilities, which were assessed using a Flanker Task, specifically to determine how sensitive it was in detecting differences in their visual attention performance. This information could be used to predict whether the student would benefit from specific accommodative technologies.Materials and methodsUndergraduate psychology students with and without disabilities volunteered to participate in a triple-blind study that sought to investigate whether their visual attention performance on a 10-min Flanker Task could be used to predict which students might benefit from visual accommodative technologies. The first experiment was used as a negative control to assess whether environmental distractions could interfere with participant visual attention. The second experiment compared the Flanker Task performance of students with and without disabilities in a controlled Neuropsychology Laboratory sound-attenuated environment. The third experiment evaluated the cumulative records for percent (%) accuracy and reaction times (RTs) for students with and without disabilities to examine patterns in visual attentional performance. The fourth experiment disaggregated the students with disabilities and examined their patterns in visual attentional performance.ResultsThe results showed the Flanker Task was sensitive in detecting differences in students’ visual attention performance between noisy and controlled environments differentiated students with and without disabilities. Furthermore, when students with disabilities were aggregated, their Flanker Task cumulative records were sensitive in detecting shifts in their visual attention behavior patterns. Lastly, the Flanker Task cumulative records were also sensitive in detecting disaggregated students with disability differences in their visual attention performance.ConclusionThe pilot study proved promising that a 10-min Flanker Task can be used as an effective screening tool to match students with disabilities with appropriate accommodative technologies based on their visual attentional abilities. This type of screening tool is easy to create, has minimal cost, and can be implemented quickly. This provides colleges and universities with an easy approach to assessing the needs of students with disabilities and tailoring appropriate assistive technologies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e9e02fcbccde45eb87e6acc2d660526a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e9e02fcbccde45eb87e6acc2d660526a2025-08-20T02:10:42ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-03-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.14845361484536Visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities: a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologiesAnders Chan0Anders Chan1Zachary I. Harkinish-Murray2Zachary I. Harkinish-Murray3Sabrina Colmone4Sabrina Colmone5Jessica E. Orens6Jessica E. Orens7Sharon Thomas8Sharon Thomas9Nicole Albanese10Nicole Albanese11Katherine McCabe12Katherine McCabe13Rui Freitas14Rui Freitas15Stephanie P. Bailey16Stephanie P. Bailey17Ravi L. Ramdhari18Ravi L. Ramdhari19Michael T. Verrengia20Michael T. Verrengia21Kainaat F. Siddiqui22Kainaat F. Siddiqui23Oscar E. Lopez24Oscar E. Lopez25Stacey DeFelice26Basabi Runi Mukherji27Basabi Runi Mukherji28Lorenz S. Neuwirth29Lorenz S. Neuwirth30Department of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Biological Sciences, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Biological Sciences, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesOffice of Services for Students with Disabilities, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesSUNY Neuroscience Research Institute, SUNY Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, United StatesIntroductionThe percentage of college students with disabilities has been growing and has doubled in the last two decades; thus, students with disabilities are pursuing college degrees in increasing numbers. Unfortunately, this population growth has not been matched with growth in available accommodative technologies in institutions of higher learning. Colleges and universities often do not have resources to fund and provide specific accommodative technology and support for this steadily increasing population. What is worse is that there is also a lag in emergent assessment and screening tools which are required to match student disabilities with appropriate accommodative technologies, resulting in a mismatch between student needs with appropriate accommodative technologies. The present pilot study was conducted with students with a range of disabilities, such as learning disabilities, emotional or psychiatric conditions, orthopedic or mobility impairments, attention-deficit disorder/attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, health impairments (HI), and multiple disabilities, which were assessed using a Flanker Task, specifically to determine how sensitive it was in detecting differences in their visual attention performance. This information could be used to predict whether the student would benefit from specific accommodative technologies.Materials and methodsUndergraduate psychology students with and without disabilities volunteered to participate in a triple-blind study that sought to investigate whether their visual attention performance on a 10-min Flanker Task could be used to predict which students might benefit from visual accommodative technologies. The first experiment was used as a negative control to assess whether environmental distractions could interfere with participant visual attention. The second experiment compared the Flanker Task performance of students with and without disabilities in a controlled Neuropsychology Laboratory sound-attenuated environment. The third experiment evaluated the cumulative records for percent (%) accuracy and reaction times (RTs) for students with and without disabilities to examine patterns in visual attentional performance. The fourth experiment disaggregated the students with disabilities and examined their patterns in visual attentional performance.ResultsThe results showed the Flanker Task was sensitive in detecting differences in students’ visual attention performance between noisy and controlled environments differentiated students with and without disabilities. Furthermore, when students with disabilities were aggregated, their Flanker Task cumulative records were sensitive in detecting shifts in their visual attention behavior patterns. Lastly, the Flanker Task cumulative records were also sensitive in detecting disaggregated students with disability differences in their visual attention performance.ConclusionThe pilot study proved promising that a 10-min Flanker Task can be used as an effective screening tool to match students with disabilities with appropriate accommodative technologies based on their visual attentional abilities. This type of screening tool is easy to create, has minimal cost, and can be implemented quickly. This provides colleges and universities with an easy approach to assessing the needs of students with disabilities and tailoring appropriate assistive technologies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1484536/fullvisual eye trackingGazepoint eye trackingvisual distractionsvisual accommodative technologiesundergraduate psychology studentsstudents with a disability |
| spellingShingle | Anders Chan Anders Chan Zachary I. Harkinish-Murray Zachary I. Harkinish-Murray Sabrina Colmone Sabrina Colmone Jessica E. Orens Jessica E. Orens Sharon Thomas Sharon Thomas Nicole Albanese Nicole Albanese Katherine McCabe Katherine McCabe Rui Freitas Rui Freitas Stephanie P. Bailey Stephanie P. Bailey Ravi L. Ramdhari Ravi L. Ramdhari Michael T. Verrengia Michael T. Verrengia Kainaat F. Siddiqui Kainaat F. Siddiqui Oscar E. Lopez Oscar E. Lopez Stacey DeFelice Basabi Runi Mukherji Basabi Runi Mukherji Lorenz S. Neuwirth Lorenz S. Neuwirth Visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities: a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologies Frontiers in Psychology visual eye tracking Gazepoint eye tracking visual distractions visual accommodative technologies undergraduate psychology students students with a disability |
| title | Visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities: a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologies |
| title_full | Visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities: a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologies |
| title_fullStr | Visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities: a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities: a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologies |
| title_short | Visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities: a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologies |
| title_sort | visual attentional differences in psychology students with and without disabilities a pilot study assessing the flanker task for prescriptive visual accommodative technologies |
| topic | visual eye tracking Gazepoint eye tracking visual distractions visual accommodative technologies undergraduate psychology students students with a disability |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1484536/full |
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