The effects of socioeconomic status on working memory in childhood are partially mediated by intersensory processing of audiovisual events in infancy.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a well-established predictor of individual differences in childhood language and cognitive functioning, including executive functions such as working memory. In infancy, intersensory processing-selectively attending to properties of events that are redundantly specified across the senses at the expense of non-redundant, irrelevant properties-also predicts language development. Our recent research demonstrates that individual differences in intersensory processing in infancy predict a variety of language outcomes in childhood, even after controlling for SES. However, relations among intersensory processing and cognitive outcomes such as working memory have not yet been investigated. Thus, the present study examines relations between intersensory processing in infancy and working memory in early childhood, and the role of SES in this relation. Children (N = 101) received the Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol at 12-months to assess intersensory processing (face-voice and object-sound matching) and received the WPPSI at 36-months to assess working memory. SES was indexed by maternal education, paternal education, and income. A variety of novel findings emerged. 1) Individual differences in intersensory processing at 12-months predicted working memory at 36-months of age even after controlling for SES. 2) Individual differences in SES predicted intersensory processing at 12-months of age. 3) The well-established relation between SES and working memory was partially mediated by intersensory processing. Children from families of higher-SES have better intersensory processing skills at 12-months and this combination of factors predicts greater working memory two years later at 36-months. Together these findings reveal the role of intersensory processing in cognitive functioning.

Effects of English versus Spanish language exposure on basic multisensory attention skills across 3 to 36 months of age.

Recent research has demonstrated that individual differences in infant attention to faces and voices of women speaking predict language outcomes in childhood. These findings have been generated using two new audiovisual attention assessments appropriate for infants and young children, the Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol (MAAP) and the Intersensory Processing Efficiency Protocol (IPEP). The MAAP and IPEP assess three basic attention skills (sustaining attention, shifting/disengaging, intersensory matching), as well as distractibility, deployed in the context of naturalistic audiovisual social (women speaking English) and nonsocial events (objects impacting a surface). Might children with differential exposure to Spanish versus English show different patterns of attention to social events on these protocols as a function of language familiarity? We addressed this question in several ways using children (n = 81 dual-language learners; n = 23 monolingual-language learners) from South Florida, tested longitudinally across 3-36 months. Surprisingly, results indicated no significant English language advantage on any attention measure for children from monolingual English versus dual English-Spanish language environments. Second, for dual-language learners, exposure to English changed across age, decreasing slightly from 3-12 months and then increasing considerably by 36 months. Furthermore, for dual-language learners, structural equation modeling analyses revealed no English language advantage on the MAAP or IPEP as a function of degree of English language exposure. The few relations found were in the direction of greater performance for children with greater Spanish exposure. Together, findings indicate no English language advantage for basic multisensory attention skills assessed by the MAAP or IPEP between the ages of 3 to 36 months. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Infant distractibility from social events mediates the relation between maternal responsiveness and infant language outcomes.

Research demonstrates that contingent and appropriate maternal responsiveness to infant requests and bids for attention leads to better language outcomes. Research also indicates that infants who are less distracted by irrelevant competing stimulation and attend efficiently to audiovisual social events (e.g., faces and voices) show better language outcomes. However, few studies have assessed relations between maternal responsiveness, infant attention to faces and voices, and distractibility, and how together these factors lead to early language outcomes. A newly developed audiovisual protocol, the Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol (MAAP; Bahrick et al., 2018), allows researchers to examine individual differences in attention to faces and voices and distractibility, and to assess relations with other variables. At 12 months, infants (n = 79) in an ongoing longitudinal study participated in the MAAP to assess intersensory matching of synchronous faces and voices and attention to an irrelevant competing visual distractor event. They also were observed in a brief play interaction to assess infant bids for attention and maternal responsiveness (accept, redirect, or ignore). At 18 months, receptive and expressive language were assessed using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Several noteworthy findings emerged: 1) mothers were generally responsive, accepting 74% and redirecting 14% of infant bids, 2) infants who had a greater number of their bids redirected by mothers, and who had better intersensory matching of synchronous faces and voices, showed less attention to the distractor, and 3) infants who showed less attention to the distractor had better receptive language. Findings demonstrate that maternal redirecting of infant attention by mothers who are generally responsive may promote better infant attentional control (lower distractibility) which in turn predicts better receptive language in toddlers.

Visual Short-Term Memory Persists Across Multiple Fixations: An n-Back Approach to Quantifying Capacity in Infants and Adults.

Visual short-term memory (STM) is a foundational component of general cognition that develops rapidly during the first year of life. Although previous research has revealed important relations between overt visual fixation and memory formation, it is unknown whether infants can maintain distinct memories for sequentially fixated items or remember nonfixated array items. Participants (5-month-olds, 11-month-olds, and adults; n = 24 at each age) from the United States were tested in a passive change-detection paradigm with an n-back manipulation to examine memory for the last fixated item (one-back), second-to-last fixated item (two-back), or nonfixated item (change-other). Eye tracking was used to measure overt fixation while participants passively viewed arrays of colored circles. Results for all ages revealed convergent evidence of memory for up to two sequentially fixated objects (i.e., one-back, two-back), with moderate evidence for nonfixated array items (change-other). A permutation analysis examining change preference over time suggested that differences could not be explained by perseverative looking or location biases.

Seeing and looking: Evidence for developmental and stimulus-dependent changes in infant scanning efficiency.

Though previous work has examined infant attention across a variety of tasks, less is known about the individual saccades and fixations that make up each bout of attention, and how individual differences in saccade and fixation patterns (i.e., scanning efficiency) change with development, scene content and perceptual load. To address this, infants between the ages of 5 and 11 months were assessed longitudinally (Experiment 1) and cross-sectionally (Experiment 2). Scanning efficiency (fixation duration, saccade rate, saccade amplitude, and saccade velocity) was assessed while infants viewed six quasi-naturalistic scenes that varied in content (social or non-social) and scene complexity (3, 6 or 9 people/objects). Results from Experiment 1 revealed moderate to strong stability of individual differences in saccade rate, mean fixation duration, and saccade amplitude, and both experiments revealed 5-month-old infants to make larger, faster, and more frequent saccades than older infants. Scanning efficiency was assessed as the relation between fixation duration and saccade amplitude, and results revealed 11-month-olds to have high scanning efficiency across all scenes. However, scanning efficiency also varied with scene content, such that all infants showing higher scanning efficiency when viewing social scenes, and more complex scenes. These results suggest both developmental and stimulus-dependent changes in scanning efficiency, and further highlight the use of saccade and fixation metrics as a sensitive indicator of cognitive processing.

Testing predictions of a neural process model of visual attention in infancy across competitive and non-competitive contexts.

A key question in early development is how changes in neural systems give rise to changes in infants' behavior. We examine this question by testing predictions of a dynamic field (DF) model of infant spatial attention. We tested 5-, 7-, and 10-month-old infants in the Infant Orienting With Attention (IOWA) task containing the original non-competitive cue conditions (when a central stimulus disappeared before a cue onset) and new competitive cue conditions (when a central stimulus remained visible throughout the trial). This allowed testing of five model predictions: (1) that orienting accuracy would be higher and (2) reaction times would be slower for all competitive conditions; (3) that all infants would be slower to orient in the competitive conditions, though (4) older infants would show the strongest competition costs; and (5) that reaction times would be particularly slow for un-cued competitive conditions. Four of these five predictions were supported, and the remaining prediction was supported in part. We next examined fits of the model to the expanded task. New simulation results reveal close fits to the present findings after parameter modification. Critically, developmental parameters of the model were not altered, providing support for the DF model's account of neuro-developmental change.

Unsupervised Online Assessment of Visual Working Memory in 4- to 10-Year-Old Children: Array Size Influences Capacity Estimates and Task Performance.

The events of the COVID-19 Pandemic forced many psychologists to abandon lab-based approaches and embrace online experimental techniques. Although lab-based testing will always be the gold standard of experimental precision, several protocols have evolved to enable supervised online testing for paradigms that require direct observation and/or interaction with participants. However, many tasks can be completed online in an unsupervised way, reducing reliance on lab-based resources (e.g., personnel and equipment), increasing flexibility for families, and reducing participant anxiety and/or demand characteristics. The current project demonstrates the feasibility and utility of unsupervised online testing by incorporating a classic change-detection task that has been well-validated in previous lab-based research. In addition to serving as proof-of-concept, our results demonstrate that large online samples are quick and easy to acquire, facilitating novel research questions and speeding the dissemination of results. To accomplish this, we assessed visual working memory (VWM) in 4- to 10-year-old children in an unsupervised online change-detection task using arrays of 1-4 colored circles. Maximum capacity (max K) was calculated across the four array sizes for each child, and estimates were found to be on-par with previously published lab-based findings. Importantly, capacity estimates varied markedly across array size, with estimates derived from larger arrays systematically underestimating VWM capacity for our youngest participants. A linear mixed effect analysis (LME) confirmed this observation, revealing significant quadratic trends for 4- through 7-year-old children, with capacity estimates that initially increased with increasing array size and subsequently decreased, often resulting in estimates that were lower than those obtained from smaller arrays. Follow-up analyses demonstrated that these regressions may have been based on explicit guessing strategies for array sizes perceived too difficult to attempt for our youngest children. This suggests important interactions between VWM performance, age, and array size, and further suggests estimates such as optimal array size might capture both quantitative aspects of VWM performance and qualitative effects of attentional engagement/disengagement. Overall, findings suggest that unsupervised online testing of VWM produces reasonably good estimates and may afford many benefits over traditional lab-based testing, though efforts must be made to ensure task comprehension and compliance.

Remote Data Collection During a Pandemic: A New Approach for Assessing and Coding Multisensory Attention Skills in Infants and Young Children.

In early 2020, in-person data collection dramatically slowed or was completely halted across the world as many labs were forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Developmental researchers who assess looking time (especially those who rely heavily on in-lab eye-tracking or live coding techniques) were forced to re-think their methods of data collection. While a variety of remote or online platforms are available for gathering behavioral data outside of the typical lab setting, few are specifically designed for collecting and processing looking time data in infants and young children. To address these challenges, our lab developed several novel approaches for continuing data collection and coding for a remotely administered audiovisual looking time protocol. First, we detail a comprehensive approach for successfully administering the Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol (MAAP), developed by our lab to assess multisensory attention skills (MASks; duration of looking, speed of shifting/disengaging, accuracy of audiovisual matching). The MAAP is administered from a distance (remotely) by using Zoom, Gorilla Experiment Builder, an internet connection, and a home computer. This new data collection approach has the advantage that participants can be tested in their homes. We discuss challenges and successes in implementing our approach for remote testing and data collection during an ongoing longitudinal project. Second, we detail an approach for estimating gaze direction and duration collected remotely from webcam recordings using a post processing toolkit (OpenFace) and demonstrate its effectiveness and precision. However, because OpenFace derives gaze estimates without translating them to an external frame of reference (i.e., the participant's screen), we developed a machine learning (ML) approach to overcome this limitation. Thus, third, we trained a ML algorithm [(artificial neural network (ANN)] to classify gaze estimates from OpenFace with respect to areas of interest (AOI) on the participant's screen (i.e., left, right, and center). We then demonstrate reliability between this approach and traditional coding approaches (e.g., coding gaze live). The combination of OpenFace and ML will provide a method to automate the coding of looking time for data collected remotely. Finally, we outline a series of best practices for developmental researchers conducting remote data collection for looking time studies.

Evidence for Attentional Phenotypes in Infancy and Their Role in Visual Cognitive Performance.

Infant visual attention rapidly develops during the first year of life, playing a pivotal role in the way infants process, learn, and respond to their visual world. It is possible that individual differences in eye movement patterns shape early experience and thus subsequent cognitive development. If this is the case, then it may be possible to identify sub-optimal attentional behaviors in infancy, before the emergence of cognitive deficit. In Experiment 1, a latent profile analysis was conducted on scores derived from the Infant Orienting with Attention (IOWA) task, a cued-attention task that measures individual differences in spatial attention and orienting proficiency. This analysis identified three profiles that varied substantially in terms of attentional efficiency. The largest of these profiles ("high flexible", 55%) demonstrated functionally optimal patterns of attentional functioning with relatively rapid, selective, and adaptive orienting responses. The next largest group ("low reactive", 39.6%) demonstrated low attentional sensitivity with slow, insensitive orienting responses. The smallest group ("high reactive", 5.4%) demonstrated attentional over-sensitivity, with rapid, unselective and inaccurate orienting responses. A linear mixed effect model and growth curve analysis conducted on 5- to 11-month-old eye tracking data revealed significant stable differences in growth trajectory for each phenotype group. Results from Experiment 2 demonstrated the ability of attentional phenotypes to explain individual differences in general cognitive functioning, revealing significant between-phenotype group differences in performance on a visual short-term memory task. Taken together, results presented here demonstrate that attentional phenotypes are present early in life and predict unique patterns of growth from 5 to 11 months, and may be useful in understanding the origin of individual differences in general visuo-cognitive functioning.

Visual orienting and attention deficits in 5- and 10-month-old preterm infants.

Cognitive outcomes for children born prematurely are well characterized, including increased risk for deficits in memory, attention, processing speed, and executive function. However, little is known about deficits that appear within the first 12 months, and how these early deficits contribute to later outcomes. To probe for functional deficits in visual attention, preterm and full-term infants were tested at 5 and 10 months with the Infant Orienting With Attention task (IOWA; Ross-Sheehy, Schneegans and Spencer, 2015). 5-month-old preterm infants showed significant deficits in orienting speed and task related error. However, 10-month-old preterm infants showed only selective deficits in spatial attention, particularly reflexive orienting responses, and responses that required some inhibition. These emergent deficits in spatial attention suggest preterm differences may be related to altered postnatal developmental trajectories. Moreover, we found no evidence of a dose-response relation between increased gestational risk and spatial attention. These results highlight the critical role of postnatal visual experience, and suggest that visual orienting may be a sensitive measure of attentional delay. Results reported here both inform current theoretical models of early perceptual/cognitive development, and future intervention efforts.