Eye-gaze digital games improve motivational and attentional abilities in RETT syndrome

Recently, there has been an increase in the use of eye-gaze digital games in the field of education. Most studies have underlined that the eye-gaze digital games use plays an important role in supporting students with intellectual disability. Digital Game-based Learning (DGBL) or educational game has the potential to provide effective and powerful learning environments in which the disabled and/or all learners need to develop or improve cognitive skills. The main focus of this paper is to study the role of eye-gaze digital games to improve motivational and attentional abilities in girls with Rett Syndrome (RTT). 30 Italian subjects with RTT (mean = 12.00 years, SD = 8.70) participated in the study. We employed an experimental design ABA: pre-test assessment, training, post-test assessment. In both pre-test and post-test phase, neuropsychological and behavioral parameters were measured using eye tracker technology. In the training phase, cognitive empowerment of attentional and motivational abilities was applied through eye-gaze digital games, pre-installed in the Tobii Series-I eye-tracker. Eye-gaze games were divided into 5 levels: Blank Screen Engagement, Object Displacement, Zoned Focusing, Active Exploration and Controlled Targeting. Performance measures (specific scores to each game) and subjective measures (happiness index) were evaluated. Our findings indicated an enhancement in attentional and motivational abilities. The results were discussed in terms of their implications for supporting the eye-gaze digital games use in education and learning even in genetic syndromes, such as RTT.