Joint Attention Research Articles

Children’s multimodal participation in interactions and dialogues across different activities in an early childhood education and care setting

Abstract Early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings are challenging contexts for children to engage in conversations. According to previous studies, toddler participation is minimal. However, most studies have focused on vocal productions. This study investigates how gestures also enable children to participate in interactions. From video recordings of three types of activities (mealtime, playtime, booktime) in a French ECEC, we systematically categorised utterances as being vocal, gestural or multimodal. One third of the utterances was produced by children. In mealtime and playtime, most utterances contained a vocal production, while in booktime, most contained a gesture. Gestural utterances were only addressed to professionals. The qualitative analysis of two sequences further highlights how gestures enable the building of joint attention, the co-construction of dialogic exchanges and the engagement of some children as observers. Taking gestures into account sheds new light on children’s participation in interactions and dialogues in ECEC.

Shared Hybrid Attention Transformer network for colon polyp segmentation

Shared Hybrid Attention Transformer network for colon polyp segmentation

RJAN: Region‐based joint attention network for 3D shape recognition

AbstractAs an essential field of multimedia and computer vision, 3D shape recognition has attracted much research attention in recent years. Multiview‐based approaches have demonstrated their superiority in generating effective 3D shape representations. Typical methods usually extract the multiview global features and aggregate them together to generate 3D shape descriptors. However, there exist two disadvantages: First, the mainstream methods ignore the comprehensive exploration of local information in each view. Second, many approaches roughly aggregate multiview features by adding or concatenating them together. The information loss for some discriminative characteristics limits the representation effectiveness. To address these problems, a novel architecture named region‐based joint attention network (RJAN) was proposed. Specifically, the authors first design a hierarchical local information exploration module for view descriptor extraction. The region‐to‐region and channel‐to‐channel relationships from different granularities can be comprehensively explored and utilised to provide more discriminative characteristics for view feature learning. Subsequently, a novel relation‐aware view aggregation module is designed to aggregate the multiview features for shape descriptor generation, considering the view‐to‐view relationships. Extensive experiments were conducted on three public databases: ModelNet40, ModelNet10, and ShapeNetCore55. RJAN achieves state‐of‐the‐art performance in the tasks of 3D shape classification and 3D shape retrieval, which demonstrates the effectiveness of RJAN. The code has been released on https://github.com/slurrpp/RJAN.

Is the precedence of social re-orienting only inherent to the initiators?

Previous researches have revealed that initiators preferentially re-orient their attention towards responders with whom they have established joint attention (JA). However, it remains unclear whether this precedence of social re-orienting is inherent to initiators or applies equally to responders, and whether this social re-orienting is modulated by the social contexts in which JA is achieved. To address these issues, the present study adopted a modified virtual-reality paradigm to manipulate social roles (initiator vs. responder), social behaviours (JA vs. Non-JA), and social contexts (intentional vs. incidental). Results indicated that people, whether as initiators or responders, exhibited a similar prioritisation pattern of social re-orienting, and this was independent of the social contexts in which JA was achieved, revealing that the prioritisation of social re-orienting is an inherent social attentional mechanism in humans. It should be noted, however, that the distinct social cognitive systems engaged when individuals switched roles between initiator and responder were only driven during intentional (Experiment 1) rather than incidental (Experiment 2) JA. These findings provide potential insights for understanding the shared attention system and the integrated framework of attentional and mentalising processes.

Early gesture development as a predictor of autism spectrum disorder in elevated-likelihood infants of ASD

BackgroundGesture difficulties have been reported in later-born siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Careful observation of gesture development during the first two years of children at elevated likelihood (EL) of developing ASD may identify behavioral indicators that facilitate early diagnosis.MethodsThis study enrolled 47 EL infants and 27 low-likelihood (LL) infants to explore gesture developmental trajectories and the predictive value of gesture to expedite the early detection of core characteristics of ASD. Gesture frequency, communication function, and integration ability were observed and coded from a semi-structured assessment administered longitudinally across 9–19 months of age. We conducted the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule assessment at 18–19 months for ASD’s core characteristics.ResultsThe development of joint attention (JA) gestures was slower in the EL than in the LL group. The trajectories of the two groups began to diverge at 14–18 months. Children who reached the diagnostic cutoff point for ASD showed reductions in social interaction gestures at 12–13 months, in gestures integrated with any two communication skills (G-M) at 15–16 months; and in gestures integrated with eye contact (G-E) at 18–19 months. Overall gesture and G-M integration were associated with an overall ADOS communication and social interaction score.ConclusionsThe developmental trajectories of JA gestures of EL and LL children differed. G-M gestures represent early indicators that may be a predictor of ASD.

A Precision Teaching Framework for Training Autistic Students to Respond to Bids for Joint Attention

A Precision Teaching Framework for Training Autistic Students to Respond to Bids for Joint Attention

The SocialAI school: a framework leveraging developmental psychology toward artificial socio-cultural agents.

Developmental psychologists have long-established socio-cognitive abilities as fundamental to human intelligence and development. These abilities enable individuals to enter, learn from, and contribute to a surrounding culture. This drives the process of cumulative cultural evolution, which is responsible for humanity's most remarkable achievements. AI research on social interactive agents mostly concerns the emergence of culture in a multi-agent setting (often without a strong grounding in developmental psychology). We argue that AI research should be informed by psychology and study socio-cognitive abilities enabling to enter a culture as well. We draw inspiration from the work of Michael Tomasello and Jerome Bruner, who studied socio-cognitive development and emphasized the influence of a cultural environment on intelligence. We outline a broader set of concepts than those currently studied in AI to provide a foundation for research in artificial social intelligence. Those concepts include social cognition (joint attention, perspective taking), communication, social learning, formats, and scaffolding. To facilitate research in this domain, we present The SocialAI school-a tool that offers a customizable parameterized suite of procedurally generated environments. This tool simplifies experimentation with the introduced concepts. Additionally, these environments can be used both with multimodal RL agents, or with pure-text Large Language Models (LLMs) as interactive agents. Through a series of case studies, we demonstrate the versatility of the SocialAI school for studying both RL and LLM-based agents. Our motivation is to engage the AI community around social intelligence informed by developmental psychology, and to provide a user-friendly resource and tool for initial investigations in this direction. Refer to the project website for code and additional resources: https://sites.google.com/view/socialai-school.

A generic shared attention mechanism for various backbone neural networks

The self-attention mechanism is crucial for enhancing various backbone neural networks’ performance. However, current methods add self-attention modules (SAMs) to each network layer without fully utilizing their potential, resulting in suboptimal performance and higher parameter consumption as network depth increases. In this paper, we reveal an inherent phenomenon: SAMs produce highly correlated attention maps across layers, with an average Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.85. Inspired by this inherent observation, we propose Dense-and-Implicit Attention (DIA), which shares SAMs across layers and uses a long short-term memory module to calibrate and connect these correlated attention maps, improving parameter efficiency. This approach aligns with the neural network’s dynamic system perspective. Extensive experiments show DIA consistently enhances various backbones like ResNet, Transformer, and UNet in tasks such as image classification, object detection, and image generation with diffusion models. Our analysis indicates that DIA’s effectiveness stems from its dense inter-layer information connections, absent in conventional mechanisms, stabilizing training and providing regularization effects. This paper’s insights advance our understanding of attention mechanisms, optimizing them and paving the way for future developments across diverse neural networks.

Social bonding through shared experiences: the role of emotional intensity.

Sharing emotions with other individuals is a widespread phenomenon. Previous research proposed that experiencing intense and similar emotions with other individuals reinforces social bonds. However, several aspects of this phenomenon remain unclear, notably whether social bonding requires the convergence and synchronization of emotions in the group, and whether these effects generalize across positively valenced and negatively valenced emotional contexts. To address these questions, we measured subjective emotional experiences, physiological activity (cardiac, respiratory, electrodermal) and social attitudes in dyads of unacquainted individuals who watched videos in the presence of each other. We manipulated the emotional content of the videos and the type of shared attention between participants, to test for the contribution of interpersonal influence. The results revealed that intense emotions indexed by physiological arousal were associated with the emergence of reciprocal prosocial attitudes within dyads, and that this effect depended on joint attention. We did not observe the convergence and synchronization of emotions within dyads, which suggests that experiencing similar emotions was not necessary for social bonding. We discuss implications of this study for research on collective effervescence and the social consequences of shared experiences.

The impact of environmental factors on Egyptian children with delayed language development

BackgroundThe current study was aimed at constructing a questionnaire for evaluating the role of variant environmental factors on language acquisition in the three surrounding levels of communication that include familial level, preschool or nursery level, and surrounding social environmental level among children with delayed language development (DLD) due to environmental deprivation. The current study was a retrospective case–control study that was performed on 100 Egyptian Arabic-speaking children aged from 2 to 5 years. The study was carried out among preschool age children in the Mansoura governmental and private preschools (53 males and 47 females). They were divided into 2 groups: Group I (case group) consisted of 50 children with DLD due to environmental deprivation, and group II (control group) consisted of 50 typically developed children.ResultsThe present study demonstrated several factors for prediction of DLD due to environmental deprivation. Univariable analysis revealed multiple factors as number of hours that parents present at home, time of the mother’s job, the relation between the child and the mother, the parents select certain time to talk and play with their child, joint attention of the mother, mother asking her child what he wants, long time using multimedia, divorce as a traumatic stress, bad social performance, and low socioeconomic status. Multivariate analysis revealed that longer time of the mother’s job and less time the mother select to talk and play with her child were the environmental deprivation factors which had the most precipitating effect on predicting DLD.ConclusionsThe constructed Arabic questionnaire was proved to be valid, reliable, and homogenous and is likely to produce consistent responses in evaluating the variant environmental factors on language development among children with DLD due to environmental deprivation in the three surrounding communications levels.

Towards a ‘transformative relationship’: Evans‐Pritchard, mysticism and anthropological fieldwork

Ongoing attempts to develop a ‘transformative’ relationship between anthropology and theology have exhorted anthropologists to look to theology to ‘unsettle’ existing understandings of the discipline's goals and potential. This article explores the ‘transformative’ relationship between anthropology and theology by examining E.E. Evans‐Pritchard's perspective on fieldwork, influenced by his Catholic faith and mysticism. Evans‐Pritchard saw both fieldwork and mysticism as rooted in shared experiential knowledge, challenging the discipline's secular foundation and reframing the relationship between anthropology and theology as grounded in a shared concern for experiential knowledge. Refiguring participant observation fieldwork in this way – as sharing a fundamental aspect with something as profoundly religious as mysticism – not only disrupts anthropology's understanding of its secular constitution but also reframes the relationship between anthropology and theology. This shift moves the relationship from one barred by a lack of shared beliefs to one potentially grounded in joint attention to and care for experiential knowledge.

FJA-Net: A Fuzzy Joint Attention Guided Network for Classification of Glaucoma Stages

FJA-Net: A Fuzzy Joint Attention Guided Network for Classification of Glaucoma Stages

Effectiveness of Joint Attention Training on Basic Social Communication, Anxiety and Executive Functions of Children with Autism Spectrum

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of joint attention training on basic social communication, anxiety and executive functions of children with autism. Methods: The research design was quasi-experimental and pre-test and post-test with control group. The statistical populations of children with autism spectrum were referred to the psychiatric and psychological centers in Urmia City during the year 2021-2022. 30 individuals (15 ones from the shared attention group and 15 from the control group) were selected as a statistical sample using the available and targeted method. Data via questionnaires of basic social communication (Zabov, 2010), anxiety (Spence, 1999), executive functions of the parents' brief form (Balster Gerard et al., 2000) were collected during the intervention therapy method of joint attention training (Vakilizad and Abedi, 2015) (12 sessions, 3 days a week, each session was an hour and a half, each session was divided into 3 parts of 25 minutes with a 5 minute break for the child). Then the data were analyzed with Software SPSS V. 16 and multivariate analysis of covariance test. Results: The results showed that joint attention training increased basic social communication and executive functions and reduced anxiety in children with autism spectrum. The differences between the investigated groups and the conducted tests were significant (P≤0.01). Conclusion: Interventional treatment methods such as joint attention training should be developed for the treatment of autistic patients, so that with the help of these methods, the individual and collective life of these patients can be improved.

Use of Telehealth in Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment in Children: Evaluation of anOnline Diagnostic Protocol Includingthe Brief Observation of Symptoms of Autism.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need to develop the field of remote assessment for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The purpose of the study was to evaluate an online assessment protocol that includes the Brief Observation of Symptoms of Autism (BOSA). The online protocol consisting of BOSA and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) was administered by experienced examiners to 29 children with suspected ASD. The participants were then evaluated by clinical psychologists in a standard clinical setting using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2) and other methods, and the ASD diagnosis was confirmed or ruled out. The results show substantial to moderate inter-rater agreement between the online and face-to-face raters with the value of Cohen's Kappa = 0.66 (P < 0.001); this corresponds with 79.8% agreement. The sensitivity of the protocol was approx. 94.7%, the specificity was 70%, the positive predictive value was 85.7%, and the negative predictive value was 87.5%. Further, direct false positive or false negative diagnostic conclusions based on the online protocol were absent when the possible conclusion of "I cannot decide" was included. The items B9 Showing, B10 Spontaneous Initiation of Joint Attention, B1 Unusual Eye Contact, B3 Facial Expressions Directed to Others, and C2 Imagination/Creativity were shown to be well observable in BOSA when related to ADOS-2 scoring. The results indicate that the protocol consisting of BOSA and ADI-R administered by an experienced examiner is a promising combination of tools for remote autism assessment.

The Impact of Cues on Joint Attention in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Study in Virtual Games.

Joint attention (JA), a core deficit in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is crucial for social interaction, emotional understanding, and cognitive development. This study aims to compare and analyze the eye-tracking data of ASD and typically developing children (TDC) during virtual games, exploring how different cue types affect JA performance in ASD children. A total of 31 TDC and 40 ASD children participated in the study. Using eye-tracking devices, we recorded the children's eye movements as they played virtual games, selecting the correct target based on cues provided by virtual characters. Our findings revealed that different cue types significantly impacted the game scores of ASD children but had no significant effect on TDC, highlighting a notable disparity between the two groups. ASD children showed a lower fixation frequency, irregular fixation paths, and increased attention to non-target objects compared to TDC. Interestingly, among the three cue types, ASD children exhibited a preference for the third type, leading to longer fixation on the region of interest and higher game scores. These results underscore the importance of cue selection in enhancing JA in ASD children. This study provides novel insights into the JA deficits in ASD children and offers a scientific basis for the development of targeted and individualized intervention programs.

Using Limited Trial Evidence to Credibly Choose Treatment Dosage when Efficacy and Adverse Effects Weakly Increase with Dose.

It has become standard in medical treatment to base dosage on evidence in randomized trials. Yet it has been rare to study how outcomes vary with dosage. In trials to obtain drug approval, the norm has been to compare some dose of a new drug with an established therapy or placebo. Standard trial analysis views each trial arm as qualitatively different, but it may be credible to assume that efficacy and adverse effects weakly increase with dosage. Optimization of patient care requires joint attention to both, as well as to treatment cost. This paper develops methodology to use limited trial evidence to choose dosage when efficacy and adverse effects weakly increase with dose. I suppose that dosage is an integer t ∊ (0,1, . ,T), T being a specified maximum dose. I study dosage choice when trial evidence on outcomes is available for only K dose levels, where K < T+1. Then the population distribution of dose response is partially identified. I show that the identification region is a convex polygon. I characterize clinical and population decision making using the minimax-regret criterion. A simple analytical solution exists when T = 2. Computation is tractable when T is larger.

Adapting the Early Communication Indicator as a Social Communication Outcome Measure for Young Autistic Children: A Pilot Study.

We sought to conduct a pilot investigation of the reliability and administration fidelity of a new play-based measure of social communication for infants and toddlers with an autism diagnosis. Our team adapted an existing measure, the Early Communication Indicator (ECI), for use with young autistic children in clinical and research contexts. In this brief report, we detail our adaptation process including administration and scoring of the final adapted measure based on data from a two-phase pilot study with young autistic children (N = 17). This adapted measure, the Early Communication Indicator-Autism (ECI-A), captured a range of scores for the ECI, Initiation of Joint Attention, and Directed Communication in pilot testing. Interrater reliability was moderate to strong across the scored behaviors. Finally, parents were able to administer the ECI-A with high fidelity with support from the research staff. This two-phase pilot study demonstrated promise for the ECI-A as a brief measure of social communication that can be administered by parents and reliably scored by trained staff with limited background in autism assessments. Validation of the ECI-A is presently underway. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26042077.

EEG spatial projection and an improved 3D CNN with channel spatiotemporal joint attention mechanism for emotion recognition

EEG spatial projection and an improved 3D CNN with channel spatiotemporal joint attention mechanism for emotion recognition

Being with Others and the Practice of Theodicy

In this article I aim to highlight one aspect of what it is like to address the problem of evil. The discussion aims to show that the suffering of others comes to matter, in part, because of the way in which we are with others, and they with us. Through a sustained discussion of the film 12 Years a Slave, and drawing on the idea of joint attention, I suggest that the possibility of sharing attitudes with others is central to our experience of the meaning of suffering. In dialogue with the moral philosophy of Stephen Darwall, I highlight the way in which—at least in some significant cases—being with others depends on mutual answerability. These points suggest that whilst moral critics of theodicy are right to emphasise the way that the practice of theodicy can involve a failure to recognise the seriousness of suffering, it is a mistake to think that the suffering of others is ‘hermeneutically off-limits’ to me: whilst we may often be concerned for others, we can also be concerned with them. This, it is claimed, is an intrinsic part of the difficulty of the problem of evil, as well as one reason for its moral significance.

MEEAFusion: Multi-Scale Edge Enhancement and Joint Attention Mechanism Based Infrared and Visible Image Fusion.

Infrared and visible image fusion can integrate rich edge details and salient infrared targets, resulting in high-quality images suitable for advanced tasks. However, most available algorithms struggle to fully extract detailed features and overlook the interaction of complementary features across different modal images during the feature fusion process. To address this gap, this study presents a novel fusion method based on multi-scale edge enhancement and a joint attention mechanism (MEEAFusion). Initially, convolution kernels of varying scales were utilized to obtain shallow features with multiple receptive fields unique to the source image. Subsequently, a multi-scale gradient residual block (MGRB) was developed to capture the high-level semantic information and low-level edge texture information of the image, enhancing the representation of fine-grained features. Then, the complementary feature between infrared and visible images was defined, and a cross-transfer attention fusion block (CAFB) was devised with joint spatial attention and channel attention to refine the critical supplemental information. This allowed the network to obtain fused features that were rich in both common and complementary information, thus realizing feature interaction and pre-fusion. Lastly, the features were reconstructed to obtain the fused image. Extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets demonstrated that the MEEAFusion proposed in this research has considerable strengths in terms of rich texture details, significant infrared targets, and distinct edge contours, and it achieves superior fusion performance.