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Using the Wayne Saccadic Fixator to evaluate aspects of laterality skills in children
Insights
The Wayne Saccadic Fixator shows age correlates with performance in children. However, it did not differentiate between dominant/non-dominant hands or identify laterality deficits in children.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- The Wayne Saccadic Fixator assesses eye-hand coordination, reaction times, and saccadic eye movements.
- Previous use has established its utility in evaluating various visual-motor performance characteristics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish normative performance scores for typically achieving children using the Wayne Saccadic Fixator (Procedure #3).
- To assess the instrument's efficacy in identifying children with diagnosed laterality/directionality deficits.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Wayne Saccadic Fixator, Procedure #3, comparing dominant and non-dominant hand performance.
- Collected data from normal achieving children and children diagnosed with laterality deficits.
Main Results:
- A direct relationship was observed between chronological age and scoring ability on the Saccadic Fixator task.
- No significant difference was found in scoring between dominant and non-dominant hands for any group.
- The instrument did not differentiate between children with and without diagnosed laterality/directionality deficits.
Conclusions:
- While age impacts performance, the Wayne Saccadic Fixator (Procedure #3) does not distinguish hand dominance effects in children.
- The current protocol is insufficient for identifying children with laterality/directionality deficits based on this study's findings.
Abstract:
The Wayne Saccadic Fixator has been used to evaluate various performance characteristics of a subject's eye-hand coordination, visual reaction times, peripheral awareness, and saccadic eye movement skills. The purpose of this investigation was twofold: first, to establish standard performance scores for normal achieving children using the Wayne Saccadic Fixator preprogrammed procedure #3. The procedure was structured to compare the scoring ability of a child's dominant and non-dominant hands. The second purpose was to determine if the instrument could be used to identify children who were diagnosed by other testing methods as having laterality/directionality deficits. The data collected indicated that there was a direct relationship between age and scoring ability on this Wayne Saccadic Fixator task. However, both the normal achieving students and the special education children scored equally well when using either their dominant or non-dominant hand. There appeared to be no significant difference in the mean scoring ability of children with a diagnosed laterality deficit and children with normal laterality/directionality skills.