Browsing by Author "Gardiner, B"

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Embargo
The Automated Temporal Analysis of Gaze Following in a Visual Tracking Task
(Springer, Cham, 2022-05-15) Dhanawansa, V; Samarasinghe, P; Gardiner, B; Yogarajah, P; Karunasena, A
The attention assessment of an individual in following the motion of a target object provides valuable insights into understanding one’s behavioural patterns in cognitive disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Existing frameworks often require dedicated devices for gaze capture, focus on stationary target objects, or fails to conduct a temporal analysis of the participant’s response. Thus, in order to address the persisting research gap in the analysis of video capture of a visual tracking task, this paper proposes a novel framework to analyse the temporal relationship between the 3D head pose angles and object displacement, and demonstrates its validity via application on the EYEDIAP video dataset. The conducted multivariate time-series analysis is two-fold; the statistical correlation computes the similarity between the time series as an overall measure of attention; and the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm aligns the two sequences, and computes relevant temporal metrics. The temporal features of latency and maximum time of focus retention enabled an intragroup comparison between the performance of the participants. Further analysis disclosed valuable insights into the behavioural response of participants, including the superior response to horizontal motion of the target and the improvement in retention of focus on the vertical motion over time, implying that following a vertical target initially proved a challenging task.
Open Access
A predictive model for paediatric autism screening
(SAGE Publications, 2020-12) Wingfield, B; Miller, S; Yogarajah, P; Kerr, D; Gardiner, B; Seneviratne, S; Samarasinghe, P; Coleman, S
Autism spectrum disorder is an umbrella term for a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that is associated with impairments to social interaction, communication, and behaviour. Typically, autism spectrum disorder is first detected with a screening tool (e.g. modified checklist for autism in toddlers). However, the interpretation of autism spectrum disorder behavioural symptoms varies across cultures: the sensitivity of modified checklist for autism in toddlers is as low as 25 per cent in Sri Lanka. A culturally sensitive screening tool called pictorial autism assessment schedule has overcome this problem. Low- and middle-income countries have a shortage of mental health specialists, which is a key barrier for obtaining an early autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Early identification of autism spectrum disorder enables intervention before atypical patterns of behaviour and brain function become established. This article proposes a culturally sensitive autism spectrum disorder screening mobile application. The proposed application embeds an intelligent machine learning model and uses a clinically validated symptom checklist to monitor and detect autism spectrum disorder in low- and middle-income countries for the first time. Machine learning models were trained on clinical pictorial autism assessment schedule data and their predictive performance was evaluated, which demonstrated that the random forest was the optimal classifier (area under the receiver operating characteristic (0.98)) for embedding into the mobile screening tool. In addition, feature selection demonstrated that many pictorial autism assessment schedule questions are redundant and can be removed to optimise the screening process.