Gaze distribution patterns for audiovisual speech stimuli in preschool children with and without hearing loss.

Abstract

Visual information plays an important role in the perception of speech. Many studies have shown that the addition of visual information increases speech intelligibility, and that the visual channel alone (as in the case of speechreading) is capable of conveying meaning. The goal of this study was to examine whether children with hearing loss use visual information in speech perception differently from children with normal hearing. An eye-tracking system (faceLAB) was used to record the looking behavior of 3- to 5-year-old listeners while they watched video samples of speech. Children with hearing loss used a variety of assistive devices, including cochlear implants and hearing aids. A group of normal-hearing peers was also tested. Preliminary results reveal that children with hearing loss distribute their gaze fixations more narrowly around the talker’s mouth region, whereas children with normal hearing scan the talker’s face more broadly. These differences may reflect hearing-impaired children’s ability to compensate for degraded auditory signals through increased reliance on visual cues.