Visual Perception Problems Research Articles

Challenges of parenting children born before 24 weeks of gestation.

To assess experience of care, well-being of parents and children's development in a cohort of extremely premature infants born <24 weeks of gestation in Sweden from 2007 to 2018. A survey based on multiple questionnaires answered by 124/349 (35.5%) parents. The median age of parents and children was 43 and 9 years, respectively; 74.2% were mothers. Parents expressed high healthcare satisfaction. Following discharge from neonatal care, the satisfaction with the infant's treatment, support from personnel and being respected as a parent significantly declined but remained high. The criteria for suspected developmental deviation according to the screening test early symptomatic syndromes eliciting neurodevelopmental clinical examinations-questionnaire was fulfilled by 84.3%, 55.6% had suspected avoidant restrictive food intake disorder and 47.9% had visual perception problems. Parents experienced severe fatigue (48.6%) despite strong social support and family self-efficacy. Economic support was provided to 30.6%, and 37.9% of children were enrolled in habilitation services. This study highlighted the substantial challenges faced by parents of infants born before 24 weeks of gestation, including decreased satisfaction post-discharge, fatigue and concerns about children's well-being. The findings underscore the need for comprehensive family-centred support and long-term multi-professional follow-up centres.

The Effectiveness of Multisensory Method for Improving Prereading Skills in Preschooler with Visual Perception Problem

The Effectiveness of Multisensory Method for Improving Prereading Skills in Preschooler with Visual Perception Problem

Multi-Task Visual Perception for Object Detection and Semantic Segmentation in Intelligent Driving

With the rapid development of intelligent driving vehicles, multi-task visual perception based on deep learning emerges as a key technological pathway toward safe vehicle navigation in real traffic scenarios. However, due to the high-precision and high-efficiency requirements of intelligent driving vehicles in practical driving environments, multi-task visual perception remains a challenging task. Existing methods typically adopt effective multi-task learning networks to concurrently handle multiple tasks. Despite the fact that they obtain remarkable achievements, better performance can be achieved through tackling existing problems like underutilized high-resolution features and underexploited non-local contextual dependencies. In this work, we propose YOLOPv3, an efficient anchor-based multi-task visual perception network capable of handling traffic object detection, drivable area segmentation, and lane detection simultaneously. Compared to prior works, we make essential improvements. On the one hand, we propose architecture enhancements that can utilize multi-scale high-resolution features and non-local contextual dependencies for improving network performance. On the other hand, we propose optimization improvements aiming at enhancing network training, enabling our YOLOPv3 to achieve optimal performance via straightforward end-to-end training. The experimental results on the BDD100K dataset demonstrate that YOLOPv3 sets a new state of the art (SOTA): 96.9% recall and 84.3% mAP50 in traffic object detection, 93.2% mIoU in drivable area segmentation, and 88.3% accuracy and 28.0% IoU in lane detection. In addition, YOLOPv3 maintains competitive inference speed against the lightweight YOLOP. Thus, YOLOPv3 stands as a robust solution for handling multi-task visual perception problems. The code and trained models have been released on GitHub.

A STUDY TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STROOP TASK PERFORMANCE TO IMPROVE VISUAL PERCEPTUAL DISCRIMINATION AMONG VARIOUS CHILDHOOD DISORDERS AT SELECTED HOME, PUDUCHERRY

Background: The Stroop effect is a simple phenomenon that reveals a lot about the brain processes information. The Stroop effect is our tendency to experience difficulty naming a physical color when it is used to spell the name of a different color. It is a neuropsychological test extensively used to assess the ability to inhibit cognitive interference that occurs when the processing of a specific stimulus feature impedes the simultaneous processing of a second stimulus attribute, well-known as the Stroop Effect. The childhood disorder is an any illness, impairment, or abnormal condition that affects primarily infants and children. Some of the childhood disorders like Mild Mental Retardation, Learning Disorders, Motor Skills Disorders, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorders, Eating disorders of infancy or early childhood, Tic disorders. Visual perceptual discrimination is the brain’s ability to accurately perceive information in a complex, fluid and confusing situation and, even more importantly, to accurately differentiate amongst confusable types of information and ability to identify detail seeing Items like differences in shape, color and orientation. Objectives: The main purpose of this study is to assess the level of visual perceptual discrimination among various childhood disorders. To evaluate the level of visual perceptual discrimination before and after administration of Stroop task performance among various childhood disorders. To associate the level of visual perceptual discrimination among various childhood disorders with their selected demographic variables. Materials and Methods: The research approach used in the study was Quantitative in nature. Pre –Experimental One group Pre- test Post test design was used. Purposive Sampling technique was used to select the samples. A total of 30 Children’s with various childhood disorders were selected for this study. Visual Perceptual Discrimination checklist was used to assess the Visual Perceptual Discrimination Problems among children with childhood disorder and administering stroop task performance using Flashcard was used for intervention and Post test was conducted by using same tool in same manner. Results and Conclusion: The result showed that majority of the childhood disorders at selected home 26(86.7%) had low and 4(13.3%) had moderate level of visual perceptual discrimination during Pre test. The Calculated paired‘t’ value was t= -8.55 and was found to be statistically significant at -P=&lt;0.001 level. After Intervention majority of childhood disorders at selected home 16(53.3%) had low and 14(46.7%) had moderate level of visual perceptual discrimination. There was area of residence and type of childhood disorders had shown statistically significant association between post testlevel of visual perceptual discrimination among various childhood disorders with their selected demographic variables. The other demographic variable had not shown statistically significant association between the post-test level of visual Perceptual discrimination among various childhood disorders with their selected demographic variables .The researcher concluded that by administering Stroop task performance shows that the intervention helps in improving the level of visual perceptual discrimination in good range and found to be one of the helpful interventions in improving the level of visual perceptual discrimination among children with various childhood disorders. The study had proved that Effectiveness and excellent changes in improvement of visual perceptual discrimination among Children\s with various childhood disorders.

Super-Resolution Reconstruction Based on Adaptive Weight Adjustment

In image super-resolution, the existing convolution neural network methods increase the number of network layers and filters to achieve better performance, and seldom consider the influence of different branches in feature extraction on the reconstruction effect, which leads to the problems of blurred details and unclear visual perception. Therefore, we propose an adaptive weight adjustment super-resolution (AWSR) reconstruction model in this paper. The model includes Shallow Feature Extraction (SFE), Information Extraction Enhancement Block (IDEB) and Reconstruction Block (RB). IDEB composed of Adaptive Weight Blocks (AWB) and Channel Linking Layers (CLL) learns a deeper mapping relationship between LR image and HR image by adaptively adjusting the proportions of different branches. It not only saves computational cost, but also improves the expression ability of the model. Meanwhile, the performance of the model is further improved by dimension change in the up-sample block. Especially, the image edge and texture reconstruction effects are obviously improved. Compared with SRNHARB algorithm proposed in 2021, the PSNR values are increased by 0.23[Formula: see text]dB, 0.19[Formula: see text]dB and 0.02[Formula: see text]dB at [Formula: see text] on the Set5 dataset. Moreover, the proposed model has a strong generalization ability, and the reconstructed SR images can achieve satisfactory results.

Visual and ocular findings in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD): validating the FASD Eye Code in a clinical setting

ObjectiveFetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term covering a spectrum of medical conditions caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. The FASD Eye Code is a new complementary ophthalmological diagnostic...

Motor Proficiency, Manual Dexterity, and Visual Perception in School-age Children With ADHD: Contribution of Different Comorbidities

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often comorbid with a number of other psychiatric conditions. The goal of this study was to investigate whether motor skills, manual dexterity, and visual perception differ in the presence of ADHD and comorbid psychiatric conditions in school-age boys by comparing them to a group of children with typical development (TD). We evaluated 81 boys 6 to 10 years of age in 5 groups: ADHD only (n=18); ADHD+specific learning disorders (ADHD+SLDs) (n=17); ADHD+oppositional defiant disorder (n=16); ADHD+anxiety disorders (n=15); and TD (n=15). The participants with ADHD only and those with ADHD+comorbidity had significantly lower scores than the participants in the TD group in every area we evaluated. The lowest scores were observed in the ADHD+SLD group in all motor skills domains except for the fine motor precision field. Furthermore, the group with ADHD+SLD had statistically significantly lower scores than the 3 other groups with ADHD+comorbidity in 3 areas: balance, upper extremity coordination, and speed and agility. Motor problems in patients with ADHD and comorbid conditions may not be a focus of attention in clinics. However, especially in the case of comorbid conditions accompanying ADHD, it is important to consider problems in motor skills, manual dexterity, and visual perception in evaluation and treatment to increase these children's quality of life.

Pre-Attentional Effects on Global Precedence Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Those with Typical Development on a Tablet-Based Modified Navon's Paradigm Task.

This study aimed to characterize the pre-attentional effects on global precedence processing in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with typical development (TD). A sample of 17 participants, comprising eight children with ASD and nine TD children, were recruited for the study. A tablet-based assessment utilizing a global and local visual processing paradigm task was developed to investigate the participant's abilities. The task consisted of verbal instructions to locate and touch either a global or local figure, presented in five conditions: neutral, congruent, and incongruent. The percentage of correct answers and reaction time (RT) for each task were measured and analyzed statistically. Results revealed that children with ASD exhibited statistically significant differences in both the percentage of correct scores and RT among various conditions, while TD children displayed differences in RT but not in the percentage of correct answers. These findings suggest that conflicting processes affect both behavioral and cognitive processes in children with ASD, and that cognitive effort is still involved for children with TD, but does not affect behavioral processes. In children with ASD, the RT was the shortest in the congruent (report local figure) condition; in children with TD, the RT was the shortest in the congruent (report global figure) condition. This implies that children with TD exhibit a pre-attentive effect on global precedence processing, while children with ASD do not. These visual-processing-function characteristics may aid in screening for visual perception problems in children with ASD.

ФУНКЦИОНАЛЬНЫЙ ПОДХОД В УСЛОВИЯХ РЕКОНСТРУКЦИИ ПЛАНИРОВОЧНЫХ ЭЛЕМЕНТОВ ЖИЛОЙ СРЕДЫ ГОРОДСКОГО ИСТОРИЧЕСКОГО ЦЕНТРА

In modern large cities with the status or signs of the historical, there are global transformations in the architectural and planning structure, which are both positive and negative in relation to the functional organization of the living environment. The modern problems of the historical urban center, which are the cause or consequence of reconstructive interventions, are due to both the specifics of its functional and planning organization and the current socio-economic demand. Despite this, the technical possibilities of modernizing the quantitative parameters of the urban environment of the historical center are quite specific: historical buildings, expressed in low-rise and medium-rise buildings, are subject to preservation, and incorrectly selected methods and techniques for implementing this process currently lead not only to problems of visual and identification perception of the historical and cultural urban environment, but also to functional, to which this article is devoted. The research methods are determined by the principles of the demoecological approach, according to which the living environment is a complex self-sufficient system. The research is based on a systematic approach: the principles of functional transformation of the residential environment in the architectural and planning structure of the modern historical city center are revealed.The revealed typology of functionally indeterminate structural planning elements of the residential environment, which are currently sites for correct functional modernization, is analyzed by a systematic approach, as a result of which the term "functional regulation" and "functional integration" was defined.

Research on saliency detection method based on depth and width neural network

Image saliency detection is to segment the most important areas in the image. Solving the problem of image saliency detection usually involves knowledge in computer vision, neuroscience, cognitive psychology and other fields. In recent years, as deep learning has made great achievements in the field of computer vision, the application of deep learning has also played a good role in image saliency detection. Therefore, algorithms based on deep convolutional neural networks have become solutions to image saliency The most effective method of detection. For researchers, improving the computational efficiency of neural network-based saliency detection algorithms generally starts from two perspectives. One is to tailor the network structure and combine traditional feature extraction methods for processing. The other is to use a lighter network to solve the saliency detection problem. Based on these two points of thinking, this paper proposes two efficient and accurate neural network-based saliency detection algorithms. In recent years, with the rapid development of multimedia and Internet technologies, a huge amount of picture information is generated on blogs, social networking or shopping platforms every day. Such a lot of information not only enriches people's lives, but also provides efficient and accurate network management platforms. The management of these image information brings difficulties. Therefore, how to understand and process these image information more intelligently and efficiently has become a hot topic for many image processing and computer vision researchers. Among them, the saliency detection technology plays a key role in solving the problem of intelligent understanding and processing of images. To put it simply, saliency detection is a technology to automatically calculate or detect the most important areas in an image, and its processing results provide a basis for understanding and processing the image content. Saliency detection is a basic problem in computer vision, neuroscience and visual perception. The algorithm detects and extracts the most interesting or significant areas in the image.

Effect of Colour Usage and Dialogue Reading Practices in Solving the Visual and Auditory Perception Problems of Students with Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability in reading. It is the most prevalent learning disability. This study aims to reveal the effect of the use of colours, peer assessment and reading dialogues on the education of students with dyslexia. The study uses a technical collaborative action research method. Two male students diagnosed with dyslexia and studying in the second year of primary school were participants in the study. The study lasted for 12 weeks following the research plan. The students were required to read the chosen tales in Aesop’s Tales aloud. After reading the stories, the students also read selected dialogues in the elementary school course books determined by the Ministry of National Education. Two letters by which the students got confused were marked in two different colours in the first text. The colouring gradually reduced in the new text. There was no colouring in the last text. Results show that the use of colours was effective in reducing the confusion of letters. The students corrected their mistakes mutually through the peer assessment method. The students liked the reading activity and made fewer reading errors compared to other texts.

КОНЦЕПЦИЯ «УМНОГО НЕФТЕСКЛАДА» НА ОСНОВЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ МАШИННОГО ЗРЕНИЯ

The paper considers and solves the issues of the formation of algorithms and practical methods for the application of machine vision in the concept of a smart oil storage. The resulting technology will significantly increase the autonomy of intelligent algorithms for managing the tank farm and ensure its safe operation. The fundamental principle of the development of the bionic approach in machine vision is the use of artificial neural networks to recognize objects from the received images. The solution to the problem of visual perception with the help of a computer was the development of artificial neural networks and algorithms for their training. To increase the autonomy of intelligent algorithms for managing a tank farm and ensure its safe operation, it is necessary to develop algorithms and practical methods for using machine vision in the framework of an intelligent oil storage unit. The results of measurements of a steel surface horizontal tank by a neural network based on the image from the camera are obtained by spatial transformation of its image and construction of structural elements using the contour segmentation algorithm. The initial representation, from which the mapping is carried out to some final representation, is usually the representation of the image in the form of an array of raw data - a set of results of physical measurements made for some image from the camera. A picture from a camera contains, in terms of computer vision, a set of physical objects or some fragment of the real world, in our case, a ground horizontal cylindrical tank. The smallest image element with such an initial representation is a pixel containing the result of a single measurement of a given physical quantity. The result obtained was: tank height 2.05 m, tank length 3.17 m, diameter 2.25 m. The measurement error in this case is 4.5%.

Where Exactly Is the Therapist in Virtual Reality and Game-Based Rehabilitation Applications? A Randomized Controlled Trial in Children with Specific Learning Disability

Objective: Children with specific learning disability (SLD) experience problems in visual perception that influence academical skills and activities of daily living. Virtual reality and game-based rehabilitation applications are becoming increasingly popular in rehabilitation, including visual perception rehabilitation. However, the usage of commercially available and easily accessible games as intervention tools raises the question whether rehabilitation conducted with these games is really rehabilitation, or just casual gameplay. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of a nonactively supervised (game-based intervention program [GIP]) and an actively supervised (therapist guided game-based intervention program [TGGIP]) on the visual perception skills of children with SLD. Materials and Methods: This study was designed as a single-blind randomized, controlled trial of a TGGIP on visual perception skills in children with SLD compared with the self-oriented, nonsupervised program (GIP). A total of 138 children with SLD participated in the study and were randomly divided into two groups (TGGIP and GIP). Children's visual perception skills were assessed with Motor-Free Visual Perception Test-3. Results: Both groups showed significant improvements in visual perception after the intervention programs (P < 0.05). However, the TGGIP (a supervised and structured intervention program) was significantly more effective in improving the visual perception skills compared with the GIP (a standard, nonsupervised, and unstructured intervention program) (P < 0.05). Conclusion: We think that the TGGIP methodology that we designed acts as a facilitator for therapists in using trademarked, commercially available, and easily accessible games for structured and supervised virtual reality and game-based rehabilitation applications.

Cognitive Profiles of Children with Low Motor Performance: A Contribution to the Validation of the WPPSI-IV

(1) Background: Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a common developmental disorder of preschool age. Children often show cognitive deficits in addition to motor problems. Various studies point in particular to problems in visual perception, working memory and processing speed. In this context, it is investigated whether the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale-IV (WPPSI-IV) is a suitable instrument for mapping these deficits in a valid and economical way. (2) Methods: The WPPSI-IV profiles of children with DCD (n = 12), below-average motor performance (n = 22) and a control group (n = 32) were compared. (3) Results: Children with DCD achieved significantly poorer test performance in the primary indices Verbal Comprehension, Visual Spatial, Processing Speed and Full Scale compared to a control group. Children with below-average motor skills, on the other hand, do not differ from the children in the control group. (4) Conclusions: The WPPSI-IV is a suitable instrument for diagnosing cognitive deficits in the context of DCD. The Fluid Reasoning and Verbal Comprehension indices should be used as a supplement to assess cognitive performance levels.

Multi-Robot Collaborative Perception With Graph Neural Networks

Multi-robot systems such as swarms of aerial robots are naturally suited to offer additional flexibility, resilience, and robustness in several tasks compared to a single robot by enabling cooperation among the agents. To enhance the autonomous robot decision-making process and situational awareness, multi-robot systems have to coordinate their perception capabilities to collect, share, and fuse environment information among the agents in an efficient and meaningful way such to accurately obtain context-appropriate information or gain resilience to sensor noise or failures. In this paper, we propose a general-purpose Graph Neural Network (GNN) with the main goal to increase, in multi-robot perception tasks, single robots' inference perception accuracy as well as resilience to sensor failures and disturbances. We show that the proposed framework can address multi-view visual perception problems such as monocular depth estimation and semantic segmentation. Several experiments both using photo-realistic and real data gathered from multiple aerial robots' viewpoints show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in challenging inference conditions including images corrupted by heavy noise and camera occlusions or failures.

IMAGE AND FONT COMPOSITION IN GRAPHIC IDENTIFICATION OF PACKAGING

The article highlights the topical problems of searching for new methods of using font and image elements in project design methodology of compositional integrity of graphic identification development for packaging of consumer goods. Research purpose of the article is to outline and investigate the methods of reflecting identification of packaging with the help of author's unique image and font composition. We have analyzed and determined the role of author's unique creative thinking in ensuring the expedient synthesis of shape formation and optimal convenience, stylistic relevance, and marketing successful component for the development of goods packaging in zoo segment. Graphic design can convey almost any information to its recipient by means of signs and images, particularly on the basis of system typography. Successful combination of typography and visual image creates ideas, phenomena or process of real world. Conscious approach and ecological literacy of modern society is focused on the caring attitude to surrounding environment, particularly to protection of animals, which significantly influences production of both food and consumer type of these goods. Supporting element of this retail is always tightly interconnected with method and aesthetics of packaging. It has been discovered that the methodological structure of graphical visual and image language development, particularly author's unique font, has three main stages: 1st stage - rules of font construction; 2nd stage - work on detalization of separate sign; 3rd - work on font phrase and text. Application of individually developed typography in packaging design becomes a powerful means of visualization in objects of packaging and formation of brand awareness features of these goods. Formation of individual compositional patterns or ornamental elements in combination with author's unique font is the powerful compositional method and tool for solving the problem of visual perception of goods. It has been established that to ensure successful packaging design it is necessary to take into account functional and aesthetic characteristics. Therefore, given the specificity, the wide range of graphic possibilities should be focused on determining the method of combining typography and image. In this case, author's unique stylistics occupies dominant place in compositional identification of choice. It has been determined that graphic language of design project is indirectly dependent on the aspects of printing technologies, which designer can successfully use to finish the holistic perception of ready-made product. The task of choosing the successful technique and principle of visual image language of packaging remains the relevant experimental niche for graphic designers.

O wyobrażeniach kulturowych i percepcyjnych w monografiach Stefanii Skwarczyńskiej. Czego możemy dowiedzieć się od romantyków?

The article deals with the problem of the literary image presented in the research by Stefania Skwarczyńska. The conception of the ‘image chains’ [polish: ‘łańcuchy obrazowe’] is analysed in Skwarczyńska’s theoretical works and monographs about J. Słowacki and A. Mickiewicz. The author argues that the Polish theorist’s conception of a literary image is shaped by the impact of two complementary media lines. The first is the meaning of the static and petrified in language formula of culture tradition. The other, is the problem of visual perception. Romanticism is interpreted as a general example of this process in Skwarczyńska’s monographies. The reference of the “isomorphism” notion by R. Arnheim is used to explain how Skwarczyńska’s works present this process of shaping literary image. The artistic categories of a colour and shape and the emotional aspects of poetic language are presented as the predominant problems for Skwarczyńska’s theory. These elementary aspects of poetic language can be interpreted as the phenomena that represents the activity of observation. The author reveals how these selected categories let Skwarczyńska construct the preliminary aspects of the visual problems of contemporary culture. Such theoretical perspectives, as observed in the works of the Polish theorist, results in Romanticism appearing as an example of a new way of seeing which results in aesthetic and perceptual changes in contemporary culture. Thus, Romanticism is shown as the example that leads Skwarczyńska to elaborate on the concept of “applied literature” as well. It shows how her theoretic take is linked to the description of culture changes or non-linguistic perception and the cultural phenomena of the likes of photography and film.

ПРОЯВЛЕНИЯ ОСНОВНЫХ ФУНКЦИЙ ИЗОБРАЗИТЕЛЬНОГО ИСКУССТВА В ДЕТСКОМ ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННОМ ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ

The article analyzes the main functions of art in relation to children's artistic creativity. Children's visual activity is not a conscious creative act, but a result of a naive worldview. Therefore, it is important to study the characteristics of perception from a psychological point of view in order to understand the mechanism of its influence on the emergence of a creative message in preschool children. The psychological basis of artistic creativity and its motivation is the aesthetic attitude to the world, which is a dominant personal characteristic of the individual and manifests itself in his or her work. The article touches upon the problems of visual perception associated with life experience and notes the spontaneity of children's creativity. Particular attention is paid to the functions of art, how they appear in children's art and what role they play in their formation and development. The article deals with cognitive educational, value-oriented, aesthetic, hedonistic functions in the light of children's artwork. The author comes to the conclusion that artistic inclinations exist in everyone, but most brightly and spontaneously they are manifested in children. The images created in the unconscious are an important part of understanding social processes in society. The process of cognition of reality plays an important role in the development of creativity. Children's art vividly displays the aesthetic sense, the sense of rhythm, colour and shape. Children are able to transfer their visual observations to the realm of visual arts.

Research on saliency detection method based on depth and width neural network

Image saliency detection is to segment the most important areas in the image. Solving the problem of image saliency detection usually involves knowledge in computer vision, neuroscience, cognitive psychology and other fields. In recent years, as deep learning has made great achievements in the field of computer vision, the application of deep learning has also played a good role in image saliency detection. Therefore, algorithms based on deep convolutional neural networks have become solutions to image saliency The most effective method of detection. For researchers, improving the computational efficiency of neural network-based saliency detection algorithms generally starts from two perspectives. One is to tailor the network structure and combine traditional feature extraction methods for processing. The other is to use a lighter network to solve the saliency detection problem. Based on these two points of thinking, this paper proposes two efficient and accurate neural network-based saliency detection algorithms. In recent years, with the rapid development of multimedia and Internet technologies, a huge amount of picture information is generated on blogs, social networking or shopping platforms every day. Such a lot of information not only enriches people’s lives, but also provides efficient and accurate network management platforms. The management of these image information brings difficulties. Therefore, how to understand and process these image information more intelligently and efficiently has become a hot topic for many image processing and computer vision researchers. Among them, the saliency detection technology plays a key role in solving the problem of intelligent understanding and processing of images. To put it simply, saliency detection is a technology to automatically calculate or detect the most important areas in an image, and its processing results provide a basis for understanding and processing the image content. Saliency detection is a basic problem in computer vision, neuroscience and visual perception. The algorithm detects and extracts the most interesting or significant areas in the image.

Interaction and language test performance involving persons with dementia

Purpose: Dementia has a significant impact on language and communication. In this study, the aim was to compare the organization of interaction between persons with dementia (PWDs) and speech and language pathologists (SLPs) in two types of conversation, a test conversation and an informal conversation. A further aim was to relate interactional abilities to the PWDs’ performance on an aphasia test battery. Method: Ten PWDs participated in the two types of conversations. In the test conversation, a standardized aphasia test battery was used. All dyads were audio- and video-recorded. Analyses were informed by interaction analytical approaches, such as conversation analysis (CA), combined with quantitative measurements. Results: The results demonstrated that there was a larger number of turns, words, and topic initiations made by the PWDs in the informal conversations. The frequency of occurrence of repair instances was the same in the two conditions, but repairs in the test conversations were mostly resolved within one turn, whereas repairs stretching over several turns were more frequent in the informal conversations. Many of the repairs were initiated with a clarification request or a request for confirmation. Even though a majority of the PWDs demonstrated a rather robust turn-taking ability in the informal conversations, several of them struggled with the aphasia test assignments, in some cases due to visual perception problems. Discussion and conclusion: The results indicate that a thorough analysis of informal conversations is important in assessing language in PWDs. The ecological validity of standardized language tests needs to be discussed, and the results of such tests should be handled carefully.