UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
             COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM

                            presents

           "Using multi-modal bio-digital technologies to support
            the assessment of cognitive abilities of children with
               Physical and Neurological Impairments (PNI)"

                            Hock Gan
                    (School of Computer Science,
                    University of Hertfordshire)

                  8 October 2014 (Wednesday)
                          1 pm - 2 pm

                  Hatfield, College Lane Campus
                       Seminar Room D102

                  Everyone is Welcome to Attend

                  Refreshments will be available

Abstract:

Some Physically and Neurologically Impaired (PNI) children are so impaired
that they do not have sufficient physical and neurological maturity
to be able to properly attempt tests of their cognitive ability. This
means that professionals, such as educational psychologists and teachers,
often cannot adequately assess the child's cognitive ability and cannot
put in place an appropriate programme to support such children's
development. The study we report here takes a more holistic view of
the cognitive testing of PNI children. We use a number of bio-digital
devices with different cognitive tests and different PNI children
to try to determine the more appropriate device for a particular PNI
child to use in cognitive tests. We use a combination of brain-wave,
eye-tracker and head-tracker devices, together with three cognitive tests
of increasing cognitive complexity. We have also developed a measure,
based on the series of consecutive successes in a test, to assess the
'fit' of the cognitive test, device and PNI child. The results from the
study have been used to refine a theoretical model of the fit between
tests, devices and users. The sample size of our study is small and
the study therefore constitutes a promising initial development and
evaluation. The model we have developed, and our results, provide a basis
for a more meaningful conversation between educational psychologists
and other professionals, as well as parents of PNI children, because
the model allow finer discrimination of outcomes in cognitive tests of
PNI children. Overall, this study suggests that it could be possible
to use multi-modal bio-digital devices, in conjunction with a suite
of cognitive tests, to assess the cognitive ability of child with more
significant physical and neurological impairment.


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Hertfordshire Computer Science Research Colloquium
http://cs-colloq.stca.herts.ac.uk