How do you know what a person is thinking? You just need to look at his/her behaviour, how he/she responds to stimulus. To be able to understand if he/she has learned a lesson or assess his/her level of attentiveness. Again, his/her reactions tell us.
So far we know - or we’ve been taught- about mechanisms that regulate the individual’s learning patterns. What if this evaluation system that we have always used is no longer really dependable? Is it possible to measure learning levels in a different way, more accurately?
Two CIMeC researchers from Rovereto (University of Trento Mind Brain Centre) have been asking themselves just this in a study published today in a scientific journal Journal of Vision: Giuseppe Notaro is the first signatory of the article, and Uri Hasson, the research coordinator.
The researchers have observed how certain factors can interfere with the response that people give (eg: where is the image?) Not only do the senses come into play first and foremost in the transformation of how the reply is perceived, but also the state of mind, response inhibitions and expectations that a person may have.
These factors however, are less evident in anticipatory movements. An extreme case of a recurrence of these results can be seen in people whose physical or mental conditions don’t permit attentiveness to stimuli or responses. Such as very small children or people suffering from autism or invalidating motor deficits (for example Parkinson’s disease). In all these cases, assessing the level of attentiveness or understanding through their replies can be extremely challenging.
The research
How is it possible to know if these people are really learning, that thay are absorbing information that is useful to them? The CIMeC research provides an answer: It’s possible to observe the unintentional eye movement, that reflects the ability of the brain to learn.
During the experiment that gave rise to the research, the researchers collected data using an eyetracker, a device that enabled them to assess where we are looking.
Applicative scenarios
These results have the potential to open up interesting applicative scenarios in learning patterns in subjects with an attention and communication deficit, particularly in the field of health and education
The study aligns with the CIMeC activities on the brain and on learning mechanisms.
Further details in the press release (in italian).