Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 25, 2026
Eye Tracking Young Children with Autism
Published on: March 27, 2012
Feasibility of Undertaking Off-Site Infant Eye-Tracking Assessments of Neuro-Cognitive Functioning in
Haiko Ballieux1, Przemyslaw Tomalski2, Elena Kushnerneko3
1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of Westminster, London, UK ; Institute for Research in Child Development, School of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK.
Insights
Recruiting infants via children's centres (CCs) is a feasible method for studying early brain development differences in low socio-economic status (SES) populations. This approach yields reliable data and engages families, offering potential for large, diverse global samples.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Cognitive development
- Socio-economic disparities in child development
Background:
- Early identification of neuro-cognitive differences in infants from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds is crucial.
- Investigating these differences necessitates large, diverse infant samples, which are challenging to recruit to university settings.
- Children's centres (CCs) in deprived areas offer a potential recruitment avenue.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the feasibility of recruiting infants through CCs for neuro-cognitive research.
- To assess the effectiveness of using trained CC staff for eye-tracking assessments.
- To evaluate data quality and participant engagement in this community-based recruitment model.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 174 infants and parents was conducted in partnership with CCs.
- Feasibility was assessed through project setup, participant recruitment, staff training, and data collection processes.
- Eye-tracking equipment was utilized for infant assessments within the CC setting.
Main Results:
- The study successfully recruited a diverse sample of infants and parents.
- CC staff engagement in training and assessment procedures was positive.
- High-quality data and strong engagement from parents and infants were achieved.
Conclusions:
- Recruiting infants via CCs is a viable and effective strategy for developmental neuroscience research.
- This method facilitates the inclusion of diverse, underrepresented populations.
- The approach shows significant potential for large-scale, global infant studies with reliable outcomes.
Abstract:
Recent work suggests that differences in functional brain development are already identifiable in 6- to 9-month-old infants from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. Investigation of early SES-related differences in neuro-cognitive functioning requires the recruitment of large and diverse samples of infants, yet it is often difficult to persuade low-SES parents to come to a university setting. One solution is to recruit infants through early intervention children's centres (CCs). These are often located in areas of high relative deprivation to support young children. Given the increasing portability of eye-tracking equipment, assessment of large clusters of infants could be undertaken in centres by suitably trained early intervention staff. Here, we report on a study involving 174 infants and their parents, carried out in partnership with CCs, exploring the feasibility of this approach. We report the processes of setting up the project and participant recruitment. We report the diversity of sample obtained on the engagement of CC staff in training and the process of assessment itself. We report the quality of the data obtained, and the levels of engagement of parents and infants. We conclude that this approach has great potential for recruiting large and diverse samples worldwide, provides sufficiently reliable data and is engaging to staff, parents and infants.
