The Visual World Paradigm in Children with Spoken Language Disorders

Abstract

Eye movements have become a commonly used response measure in studies of spoken language processing. These studies are included in the so-called ‘visual world paradigm' in which participants' eye movements are monitored during scene viewing in language comprehension and production activities. In this chapter the most important aspects for running eye-tracking studies in children are revised. Developmental studies using eye movements have increased in the last ten years from babies to adolescents. However, there are only a handful of papers based on the ‘visual world paradigm' that analyze the spoken language in children with language disorders. These studies using eye movements have explored spoken word recognition; verb argument and thematic relations; and narrative comprehension and production. Results has proven eye tracker to be an effective tool for understanding language representation and processing in children with language disorders.