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How do humans decide what to look at and when to stop looking? The Rational Action, Noisy Choice for Habituation (RANCH) model formulates looking behaviors as a rational information acquisition process. RANCH instantiates a hypothesis about the perceptual encoding process using a neural network-derived embedding space, which allows it to operate on raw images. In this paper, we show that the model not only captures key looking time patterns such as habituation and dishabituation, but also makes fine-grained, out-of-sample predictions about magnitudes of dishabituation to previously unseen stimuli. We validated those predictions experimentally with a self-paced looking time task in adults (N = 468). We also show that model fits are robust across parameters, but that assumptions about the perceptual encoding process, the learning process and the decision process are all critical for predicting human performance.

From birth, humans make decisions about what to look at and for how long. A classic framework proposes encoding as a key driver of looking behavior in development - in early stages of encoding, infants and young children prefer to engage with familiar stimuli, while at later stages of encoding they prefer novel stimuli. Though this framework is often invoked when interpreting looking time studies, it is rarely validated empirically. Here, we test these predictions by explicitly manipulating exposure durations within-subjects. While we found robust evidence for habituation and novelty preferences, limiting exposure to visual concepts did not result in familiarity preferences in any age group. Our findings suggest that limited exposure does not generically lead to familiarity preferences, and that interpretations of observed familiarity preferences should be made with care. We argue for the development of formal frameworks which link the learning problem faced by participants to their attentional preferences.

From birth, humans constantly make decisions about what to look at and for how long. Yet the mechanism behind such decision-making remains poorly understood. Here we present the rational action, noisy choice for habituation (RANCH) model. RANCH is a rational learning model that takes noisy perceptual samples from stimuli and makes sampling decisions based on Expected Information Gain (EIG). The model captures key patterns of looking time documented in developmental research: habituation and dishabituation. We evaluated the model with adult looking time collected from a paradigm analogous to the infant habituation paradigm. We compared RANCH with baseline models (no learning model, no perceptual noise model) and models with alternative linking hypotheses (Surprisal, KL divergence). We showed that 1) learning and perceptual noise are critical assumptions of the model, and 2) Surprisal and KL are good proxies for EIG under the current learning context.

The criteria for guiding endogenous attention are largely unknown. A prominent view is that humans preferentiallyengage with information of intermediate complexity, and minimize engagement with too simple or too complex events.Here, we operationalize the notions of engagement and complexity to test this hypothesis. We asked participants toengage with differentially complex sequences of symbols shown one-by-one and disengage when they 1) could predictthe next element of the sequence, or 2) felt the sequence was unpredictable. We define sequence complexity as a functionof the probability of obtaining that sequence from a particular Hidden Markov Model. This extends previous measuresof complexity to respect sequential structure and closely relates to the algorithmic complexity of sequence-generatingprograms. We construct different measures using this operationalization of sequence complexity to predict the probabilityof disengagement at each event. We assess under which definitions intermediate complexity is preferred.

A challenging aspect of foreign language acquisition is learning new vocabulary. Research has demonstrated the benefits of motor action to vocabulary learning, though these findings are rarely translated into teaching and learning practices. In this work, we present a novel paradigm for vocabulary learning in a virtual reality environment, capitalizing on the prominent advantages of this technology as an 'embodied learning' tool. Hebrew-speaking adults explored a virtual room and learned the Finnish names of 40 daily objects. Every participant learned the new object names under three conditions: (1) Watch-only: watching the object without performing any movement (2) performing an irrelevant movement or (3) performing a manipulation movement that implied its habitual use. Participants completed a word-picture matching test after each training block, as well as additional word-picture matching and recall tests a week after the initial training session. The overall results demonstrate improved comprehension rates for items that were learned in the manipulation movement condition compared to the irrelevant movement condition, both in the initial learning session and 1 week following it. These initial findings suggest that VR technology may indeed hold the potential to offer a more authentic, multisensory and motor context to efficient foreign language learning.

The study of infant gaze has long been a key tool for understanding the developing mind. However, labor-intensive data collection and processing limit the speed at which this understanding can be advanced. Here, we demonstrate an asynchronous workflow for conducting violation-of-expectation (VoE) experiments, which is fully "hands-off" for the experimenter. We first replicate four classic VoE experiments in a synchronous online setting, and show that VoE can generate highly replicable effects through remote testing. We then confirm the accuracy of a state-of-the-art gaze annotation software, iCatcher+ in a new setting. Third, we train parents to control the experiment flow based on the infant's gaze. Combining all three innovations, we then conduct an asynchronous automated infant-contingent VoE experiment. The hands-off workflow successfully replicates a classic VoE effect: infants look longer at inefficient actions than efficient ones. We compare the resulting effect size and statistical power to the same study run in-lab and synchronously via Zoom. The hands-off workflow significantly reduces the marginal cost and time per participant, enabling larger sample sizes. By enhancing the reproducibility and robustness of findings relying on infant looking, this workflow could help support a cumulative science of infant cognition. Tools to implement the workflow are openly available. Public Significance Statement: Infant looking time experiments have provided critical insights into early cognition, but traditionally very time-consuming and expensive. We run a classical violation-of-expectation experiment through a workflow in which data collection and analysis are automated and compare the results to the same study run in the lab and on Zoom. The automated workflow shows a small reduction in effect size and power, while allowing for significantly larger sample sizes, thereby enabling a more robust developmental science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gamification of behavioral intervention for tic disorders (TDs) potentially enhances compliance and offers key clinical advantages. By delivering immediate positive feedback upon tic‐suppression, games may counteract negative reinforcement, which presumably contribute to tic consolidation by relieving uncomfortable premonitory urges. Objectives: We developed a gamified protocol (XTics), which leverages this potential by combining gamified tic‐triggering with immediate feedback, and evaluated its clinical value in enhancing tic suppression. Methods: XTics encompasses two conditions: Immediate and Contingent Reward (ICR), where game progression is contingent upon successful tic suppression, and Delayed Reward (DR), where game events' outcomes are random. Employing a randomized crossover design, 35 participants (aged 7–15 years) underwent daily gaming sessions over a week per condition. Improvements in our primary measures, including the inter‐tic interval (ITI) and tic severity assessment by blinded evaluators (Yale Global Tic Severity‐Total Tic Score [YGTSS‐TTS], Rush), and parents (Parent Tic Questionnaire [PTQ]), were compared between ICR and DR, and assessed across conditions for the 4‐week protocol. Results: No participant voluntarily left the study before completing its two‐phase protocol. As expected, ITI showed significantly larger improvement (Z = 4.19, P = 2.85 × 10–5) after ICR (1442 ± 2250%) versus DR (242 ± 493%) training, increasing at a higher pace (t(67) = 3.15, P = 0.0025). Similarly, Rush tic severity scores reduced more post‐ICR versus DR (t(47) = 3.47, P = 0.002). We observed a clinically significant reduction of 25.69 ± 23.39% in YGTSS‐TTS following a f4‐week protocol including both conditions. Parent‐reported tic severity decreased by 42.99 ± 31.69% from baseline to 3 months post‐treatment. Conclusions: The combination of gamified tic‐triggering with immediate and contingent rewards demonstrates a promising approach for enhancing treatment efficacy in TDs, boosting traditional therapeutic methods. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Children in developed countries spend a significant portion of their waking hours engaging with audiovisual content and video games. The impact of media consumption on children's health and well‐being has been widely studied, including its effects on tic disorders. Previous studies have shown that tic frequency can both increase and decrease during activities like gaming and television watching, resulting in mixed findings. Methods: To better understand the impact of audiovisual media on tics, we conducted a fine‐grained tic manifestation analysis. We focused on the effects of the impact of a movie scene with suspensful elements and a video game designed to heighten anticipation, thought to stimulate phasic and striatal dopamine release. We closely monitored tic frequency throuhghout these experiences based on moment‐to‐moment tic annotation. The study included 20 participants (19 males aged 7‐16) diagnosed with tic disorders (Yale Global Tic Severity Scale≥8), and we tested the replicability of our findings with an independent group of 36 children (15 females, aged 7‐15) with tic disorders. Results: During film viewing, we observed significant synchronization in the temporal tic patterns of various individuals despite diversity in their tic profiles. Furthermore, employing a video game developed for our study, we found that tic frequency increases during anticipation of a pending reward. This finding was replicated in a second experiment with an independent cohort. Conclusions: Our results indicate that tic frequency is affected by media elements in the short‐term, and call for further investigation of the long‐term impacts of exposure to such tic triggers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]