Feature visual search in children with a visual impairment: A multiverse analysis approach

Feature Visual Search study into children with and without a vision impairment. The project contains data set of reaction times, R code and statistical output using GAMLSS Methods Thirty-nine children aged 5-18 years with a vision impairment with acuity range 0.21- 1.46 LogMAR and thirty-two control children with normal corrected acuity were recruited. A feature-based task with set sizes 4, 16 and 24 consisting of distractors (circle) and a target (ellipse) were presented randomly to each participant. Reaction time and accuracy for set-size and target absent or present were recorded. Interactions and main effects of key variables relating to reaction times and accuracy were analysed via a method blending GAMLSS (generalised additive models for location, scale, and shape) and decision trees known as distributional regression trees. Results Reaction times for the target present and absent conditions were significantly slower in the visual impairment group with increasing set sizes (p<.001). Accuracy for target present and absent were not significantly reduced in the visual impairment group, but children whose age was less than 14 years of age performed less accurately than those aged over than 14 years of age (p<.05). There was a positive association between binocular visual acuity and search time (p<.001).