| Author: | Ng, Lai-fong Florence |
| Title: | Discriminant validity and concurrent validity of the developmental eye movement test for assessment of eye movement among children with specific learning disabilities |
| Degree: | M.Sc. |
| Year: | 2007 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations. Dyslexic children -- China -- Hong Kong. Learning disabled children -- China -- Hong Kong. Eye -- Movement disorders -- Diagnosis. |
| Department: | Department of Rehabilitation Sciences |
| Pages: | xii, 83 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | According to a survey in 2004, it was estimated that around 5-10% of the students in local school have Specific Learning Disabilities (RPP Review Paper,2005). In April,2007, the Office of the Ombudsman ,Hong Kong, reported that there are at least 90,000 of children with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). Among all the difficulties experienced by the SLD children, one of the significant deficits is dyslexia, that is, difficulties in reading and writing. Previous studies have showed that one of the leading causes for reading difficulties is oculomotor problem, that is, problems in eye movement control (Rayner, 1978; Eden et al., 1995; Eden et al., 1998; Mackeben et al., 2002). Therefore, it is important to be able to assess the eye movement problems in these children objectively so that early intervention can take place. In Hong Kong, the Developmental Eye Movement Test (DEM) is the assessment tool commonly used by clinicians for screening of eye movement control problems, it is necessary to study the validity of the DEM as a diagnostic tool for these problems. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find out the construct validity and concurrent validity of the Developmental Eye Movement Test (DEM) for assessment of eye movement among children with SLD. For the Study Group, 34 children, including 20 boys and 14 girls, aged 7-11, studying Grade 2 -Grade 5, diagnosed with specific learning disabilities, were recruited from The Hong Kong Association for Specific Learning Disabilities. For the Control Group, 33 children with 9 boys and 24 girls, aged 7-11, also studying Grade 2-Grade 5, were recruited from the Tsz Wan Shan St. Bonaventure Catholic Primary School. Both the DEM and Visagraph III (which is an objective tool for tracking eye movements and was therefore used as the 'golden test' in this correlation study) were administered to subjects in both groups and results were analysed using the Statistical Package SPSS, version 15.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).The discriminant validity was evaluated by using ANOVA to compare the differences between the means of the two groups, and to analyse the effect of various factors including age, gender, and presence of eye glasses on the outcome measures. The concurrent validity was evaluated by using the Pearson product-moment coefficient of correlation for data analysis. Results showed that there was a strong significant difference in the major outcome measures between the Study Group and the Control Group (with p values ranging from .00 to .024), indicating that the Developmental Eye Movement Test appeared to have good discriminant validity in assessement of automaticity and oculomotor function in children with specific learning disabilities. However, the validity of the DEM in making differential diagnois between children with only automaticity dysfunction or oculomotor dysfunction has to be further investigated. Moreover, the results of this preliminary study also provided evidence for a fair correlation (correlation coefficient ranged from .272 to .572) in the concurrent validity study of the Developmental Eye Movement Test and the Visagraph III. The main outcome measures of the DEM were correlated to three key oculomotor components, namely, fixations, excursions, and saccades, as measured by the Visagraph III. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
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| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b2232835x.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 8.73 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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