Katia Rovira

Learning to recognize shapes with a sensory substitution system: A longitudinal study with 4 non-sighted adolescents

Inspired by the work on sensory substitution which shows the technical and practical possibilities for perceptual learning, we have carried out a global longitudinal study of the learning capacities for reading digital graphical objects by four blind high-school students. We report here the results obtained with the Tactos system during certain phases of this study, in particular the acquisition of reading strategies and the possibility of deploying these strategies in the case of a geometry exercise.

Interpersonal recognition through mediated tactile interaction

For several years, we have been developing a system of perceptual supplementation (Tactos) so as to render spatialized digital information accessible to users with visual deficiencies. After having validated this device in experimental situations and in practical use, we now propose to connect several Tactos systems in a network, so as to allow for access to shared digital spaces via the tactile modality (Intertact). This opening up of previously individual use to collective use makes it possible to conceive digital spaces designed for tactile interaction, by proposing practical, pedagogical and gaming functionalities. This new possibility of tactile interaction opens the way to the production of a technical aid for visually impaired persons with a social dimension. At the same time, the design of shared tactile spaces goes together with a fundamental reflection concerning perceptual interactions. We therefore propose an experimental study in order to provide the necessary steps to characterize the processes of mutual engagement in the interactions. The first results suggest that these processes seem to constitute a mutual dynamics, which is the basis for an active co-construction of meaning.

Analyse de l'exploration tactile sur support traditionnel chez la personne aveugle et conception de l'interface de lecture Tactos

* Groupe Suppleance Perceptive- COSTECH Universite de Technologie de Compiegne Centre Pierre Guillaumat BP 20 319 60 203 Compiegne cedex amal.aliammar@utc.fr, olivier.gapenne@utc.fr ** Laboratoire Psy.Co Universite de Rouen 76821 Mont Saint Aignan Cedex elodie.blomme@tiscali.fr, katia.rovira@.univ-rouen.fr

Joint Perception of a Shared Object: A Minimalist Perceptual Crossing Experiment

The minimalist perceptual crossing paradigm has emphasized the essential role of interpersonal dynamics on social understanding. Within the particular case of minimalist interaction, it has been argued that interpersonal processes can constitute social cognition, at least partially, which calls for a paradigm shift in social cognition studies. In this paper, we review several perceptual crossing experiments and their theoretical implications, and propose an original experiment to go beyond strictly dyadic interactions. Whereas past experiments have used objects as distracters of dyadic interaction, our experiment aims at integrating objects themselves as the goal of interpersonal coordination. We asked 24 subjects to participate in a minimalist perceptual crossing experiment where they had to decide, based on their on-line interaction in a one-dimensional digital space, which of the objects they perceived was also perceptible by their partner. The main results suggest that the mutual awareness of a shared object (SO) arises from the quality of sensorimotor coordination between the partners. Indeed, the presence of a SO acts as a simultaneous affordance that attracts and structures individual perceptive activities, giving both partners the opportunity to co-construct a shared world where their respective actions make sense. We discuss our results by way of an enactive account of social cognition, taking the joint perception of a SO as a first step to account for joint attention.

Questioning implicit motor learning as instantiated by the pursuit-tracking task

The effect of concurrent visual feedback on the implicit learning of repeated segments in a task of pursuit tracking has been tested. Although this feedback makes it possible to regulate the positional error during the movement, it could also induce negative guidance effects. To test this hypothesis, a first set of participants (N = 42) were assigned to two groups, which performed either the standard pursuit-tracking task based on the experimental paradigm of Pew (1974; group F-ST), or a task called “movement reproduction” in which the feedback was suppressed (group noF-ST). A second set of participants (N = 26) performed in the same feedback condition groups but in a dual-task situation (F-DT and noF-DT; Experiment 2). The results appear to confirm our predictions since the participants in groups without feedback, contrary to those in groups with feedback, succeeded with practice in differentiating their performances as a function of the nature of the segments (repeated or nonrepeated) both in simple (Experiment 1) and in dual-task (Experiment 2) situations. These experiments indicate that the feedback in the pursuit-tracking task induces a guidance function potentially resulting in an easiness tracking that prevents the participants from learning the repetition.

Étude longitudinale de l’orientation sociale chez les enfants avec TSA d’âge préscolaire

Resume Des etudes montrent, en situation ecologique mais egalement experimentale, que les comportements d’orientation sociale seraient reduits chez les enfants avec TSA. Nous proposons d’etudier le developpement des competences d’orientation sociale dans ces deux situations chez 13 enfants avec TSA d’âge prescolaire afin de faire le lien entre les competences lors d’une tâche experimentale et les comportements en situation de vie quotidienne. Les enfants ont ete filmes tous les mois en classe dans des situations d’interaction afin d’observer leurs comportements d’attention visuelle diriges vers un adulte (annotes a l’aide du logiciel The Observer XT10 Noldus). En parallele, ces memes enfants participent a une tâche de preference visuelle entre un visage et un objet en oculometrie. Sur le plan longitudinal, une diminution du nombre de fixations vers les visages en oculometrie est liee avec une amelioration de la duree d’orientation sociale en classe. La progression des enfants peut etre mise en lien avec leur niveau de base a la tâche, ainsi qu’avec le score obtenu aux echelles de l’ECSP en debut de suivi.

A study of collaboration via a digital space accessible to adolescents with visual impairment

The aim of this study is to observe whether the improvement of tactile digital space allows the visually impaired adolescents to interact and collaborate. A total of 12 participants (average age: 14 years 9 months) have to interact in pairs through a tactile device and have to solve a common task in a shared digital space. Contextualization of the environment and two sorts of tactile stimulation are proposed to the participants. The results and a semi-structured interview show that the subjects were able to set up an effective collaboration (strategies for following each other), which were facilitated by tactile feedback incorporating a degree of “parallelism” which makes it possible to perceive the direction of the movement of the other subject.