Child Perception
Do children see the way we do?
Our goal is to comprehensively understand how children perceive the visual world, how their perception develops with age, and how it differs in atypical development such as in Autism (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The outcome of this research will help understand how perception develops in children and will eventually help diagnose and treat disorders of perception in children.
Specifically we are looking for participation from children in the age range of 4-12 years who are either neurotypical or with a diagnosis of ASD or ADHD. To participate, please click on the appropriate links below:
Find the odd one out!
How will you study vision in children?
We study vision using extremely intuitive computer-based tasks that are designed as fun games for children. For instance, one common task involves finding the odd one out on a screen, and the child has to press a key if the oddball is on the left and another key if it is on the right. The accuracy and response time provide insights to us about their visual perception.
Our research staff will schedule the tests in-person according to the child and parents' convenience and guide the child through the process. And yes, to motivate the kids, we give them exciting stars, stickers and learning materials as they complete the tasks regardless of their performance.
Each visual task in the series takes 5-10 minutes to complete.
The full set of tasks can be completed in multiple sessions with breaks as required.
Your child can complete as many tasks as he/she wants to.
Participation is entirely voluntary. You or your child can withdraw from the study at time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What do parents need to do?
As a parent, you need to provide formal consent for your child's participation. We also request you to respond to brief survey regarding your child's daily activities and their developmental milestones. This information will be used by us to understand and characterize their perception.
Will my information be kept confidential?
Of course! Your privacy and the privacy of your child is of prime importance to us and you can be assured of the anonymity of your child’s participation in this study. All identifying information received from you will be stored confidentially. Both the identifying information and the responses will be accessed only by members of the research team and solely for research purposes. All file sharing related to this project will be conducted through secure file servers. Contact information will be stored securely and will in no way be linked to the responses.
What will happen to the results of this study?
Findings from this research will be published in academic journals and may also disseminated across academic platforms. Any results published from this study will be in the form of aggregates of the data collected and will not contain any information that links the results obtained to personal identifying information belonging to you or your child.
Who are the people involved in this study?
IISc Team
Dr. Georgitta Valiyamattam – Postdoctoral Fellow & Lead Contact (georgittav at iisc.ac.in)
Prof. SP Arun – Principal Investigator (sparun at iisc.ac.in)
Our clinical collaborators
Dr. Aditya Goyal, Sankara Eye Hospital
Dr. Divya Nagabushana, MS Ramaiah Hospital
If you have any questions about the study or just wish to know more, you are welcome to get in touch with Dr. Georgitta Valiyamattam or Prof SP Arun using the information linked above.
Who is funding the study?
The study is being organized by Vision Lab, Center for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, with funding from the DBT-Wellcome Trust India Alliance, in collaboration with M.S. Ramaiah Medical College and Sankara Eye Hospital, Bengaluru. We are also proud to be collaborating with a number of schools and special education centers in our research efforts.
Who has reviewed this study?
This study has been approved by the human ethics committees of IISc as well as our clinical partners.