The ObReco-360°: a new ecological tool to memory assessment using 360° immersive technology

AbstractOne important feature of a neuropsychological test is its ecological validity, which defines how much patients’ test scores are linked to real-life functioning. However, many of the currently available neuropsychological tools show low to moderate levels of ecological validity. Virtual reality (VR) emerged as a possible solution that might enhance the ecological value of standard paper-and-pencil tests, thanks to the possibility of simulating realistic environments and situations where patients can behave as they do in real life. Moreover, a recent kind of virtual environments, the 360° spherical photos and videos, seems to guarantee high levels of graphical realism and lower technical complexity than standard VR, despite their limitations concerning interactive design. In this pilot study, we tested the possible application of 360° technology for the assessment of memory, developing an adaptation of a standardized test. We focused on Free Recall and Recognition accuracies as indexes of memory function, confronting and correlating the performances obtained by the participants in the standard and in the 360° test. The results, even if preliminary, support the use of 360° technology for enhancing the ecological value of standard memory assessment tests.

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Clinical Conundrums When Integrating the QbTest into a Standard ADHD Assessment of Children and Young People

Neuropediatrics ◽

10.1055/s-0040-1722674 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Carsten Vogt

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Ecological Validity ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Real Life ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Standard Clinical Practice ◽

Novel Method ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe uptake of the QbTest in clinical practice is increasing and has recently been supported by research evidence proposing its effectiveness in relation to clinical decision-making. However, the exact underlying process leading to this clinical benefit is currently not well established and requires further clarification. For the clinician, certain challenges arise when adding the QbTest as a novel method to standard clinical practice, such as having the skills required to interpret neuropsychological test information and assess for diagnostically relevant neurocognitive domains that are related to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or how neurocognitive domains express themselves within the behavioral classifications of ADHD and how the quantitative measurement of activity in a laboratory setting compares with real-life (ecological validity) situations as well as the impact of comorbidity on test results. This article aims to address these clinical conundrums in aid of developing a consistent approach and future guidelines in clinical practice.

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Neuropsychology in the Real World

Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie ◽

10.1024/1016-264x/a000139 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 233-238 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Martin Peper ◽

Simone N. Loeffler

Keyword(s):

Neuropsychological Assessment ◽

Real World ◽

Ecological Validity ◽

Real Life ◽

Emotional States ◽

Context Sensitive ◽

Traditional Assessment ◽

Life Data ◽

Real Life Data ◽

Assessment And Treatment

Current ambulatory technologies are highly relevant for neuropsychological assessment and treatment as they provide a gateway to real life data. Ambulatory assessment of cognitive complaints, skills and emotional states in natural contexts provides information that has a greater ecological validity than traditional assessment approaches. This issue presents an overview of current technological and methodological innovations, opportunities, problems and limitations of these methods designed for the context-sensitive measurement of cognitive, emotional and behavioral function. The usefulness of selected ambulatory approaches is demonstrated and their relevance for an ecologically valid neuropsychology is highlighted.

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Assessment of Memory in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Using the Memory Assessment Scale

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1998.86.3.987 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 86 (3) ◽

pp. 987-998 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Naomi D. Ling ◽

Michael J. Selby

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Memory Function ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Assessment Scale ◽

Validity Data ◽

Nonverbal Memory ◽

Memory Assessment ◽

Relapsing Remitting ◽

Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Previous assessment of memory function In multiple sclerosis patients has yielded mixed findings regarding the type and severity of memory deficits, which may be due to (1) differential selection of scales for memory assessment; (2) limited, inconsistent or weak reliability and validity data for the memory scales employed; (3) poor standardization techniques; (4) lack of theoretical foundation for the measure; and (5) limited control of confounding variables, e.g., education, age and the use of nonverbal memory tests. The purpose of the present study was to assess memory function in multiple sclerosis subjects using the verbal subtests of the Memory Assessment Scale, a relatively new measure designed to overcome many of the aforementioned problems. Participants included 57 patients diagnosed as relapsing-remitting, 47 diagnosed as chronic progressive (two generally recognized types of multiple sclerosis), and 132 contra) participants. A multivariate analysis controlling for age and verbal IQ was significant (Wilks = 5.64, p<.001). One way follow-up tests showed both groups with multiple sclerosis had significantly diminished performance across all memory variables when compared with controls, with the exception of List Clustering Acquisition. This indicated that the patients used clustering (mentally grouping similar words together) as often as controls did. These findings provide support for the presence of significant and consistent verbal memory impairment in multiple sclerosis patients and the particular importance of using psychometrically sound measures in the assessment of this population.

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The influence of illness-related variables, personal resources and context-related factors on real-life functioning of people with schizophrenia

World Psychiatry ◽

10.1002/wps.20167 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 275-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 171

Author(s):

Silvana Galderisi ◽

Alessandro Rossi ◽

Paola Rocca ◽

Alessandro Bertolino ◽

Armida Mucci ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Real Life ◽

Personal Resources ◽

Related Factors ◽

Life Functioning

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Sensory gating, neurocognition, social cognition and real-life functioning: a 2-year follow-up of early psychosis

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291721004463 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Shen Li ◽

Shi Yu Chan ◽

Amy Higgins ◽

Mei-Hua Hall

Keyword(s):

Psychotic Disorders ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Real Life ◽

Sensory Gating ◽

Early Psychosis ◽

Global Functioning ◽

Chi Square ◽

Life Functioning ◽

Inference Test

Abstract Background Diminished sensory gating (SG) is a robust finding in psychotic disorders, but studies of early psychosis (EP) are rare. It is unknown whether SG deficit leads to poor neurocognitive, social, and/or real-world functioning. This study aimed to explore the longitudinal relationships between SG and these variables. Methods Seventy-nine EP patients and 88 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited at baseline. Thirty-three and 20 EP patients completed 12-month and 24-month follow-up, respectively. SG was measured using the auditory dual-click (S1 & S2) paradigm and quantified as P50 ratio (S2/S1) and difference (S1-S2). Cognition, real-life functioning, and symptoms were assessed using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, Global Functioning: Social (GFS) and Role (GFR), Multnomah Community Ability Scale (MCAS), Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT), and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square, mixed model, correlation and regression analyses were used for group comparisons and relationships among variables controlling for potential confounding variables. Results In EP patients, P50 ratio (p < 0.05) and difference (p < 0.001) at 24-month showed significant differences compared with that at baseline. At baseline, P50 indices (ratio, S1-S2 difference, S1) were independently associated with GFR in HCs (all p < 0.05); in EP patients, S2 amplitude was independently associated with GFS (p = 0.037). At 12-month and 24-month, P50 indices (ratio, S1, S2) was independently associated with MCAS (all p < 0.05). S1-S2 difference was a trending predictor of future function (GFS or MCAS). Conclusions SG showed progressive reduction in EP patients. P50 indices were related to real-life functioning.

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Does Danger Level Affect Bystander Intervention in Real-Life Conflicts? Evidence From CCTV Footage

Social Psychological and Personality Science ◽

10.1177/19485506211042683 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 194855062110426

Author(s):

Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard ◽

Lasse Suonperä Liebst ◽

Richard Philpot ◽

Mark Levine ◽

Wim Bernasco

Keyword(s):

Ecological Validity ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Real Life ◽

Active Role ◽

Bystander Intervention ◽

Interpersonal Conflicts ◽

Ethical Concerns ◽

Public Surveillance ◽

Helping Others

In real-life violence, bystanders can take an active role in de-escalating conflict and helping others. Recent meta-analytical evidence of experimental studies suggests that elevated danger levels in conflicts facilitate bystander intervention. However, this finding may lack ecological validity because ethical concerns prohibit exposing participants to potentially harmful situations. Using an ecologically valid method, based on an analysis of 80 interpersonal conflicts unobtrusively recorded by public surveillance cameras, the present study confirms that danger is positively associated with bystander intervention. In the presence of danger, bystanders were 19 times more likely to intervene than in the absence of danger. It extends this knowledge by discovering that incremental changes in the severity level of the danger (low, medium, and high), however, were not associated with bystander intervention. These findings confirm the importance of further investigating the role of danger for bystander intervention, in larger samples, and involving multiple types of real-life emergencies.

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Interplay Among Psychopathologic Variables, Personal Resources, Context-Related Factors, and Real-life Functioning in Individuals With Schizophrenia

JAMA Psychiatry ◽

10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.4607 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 75 (4) ◽

pp. 396 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Silvana Galderisi ◽

Paola Rucci ◽

Brian Kirkpatrick ◽

Armida Mucci ◽

Dino Gibertoni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Real Life ◽

Personal Resources ◽

Related Factors ◽

Life Functioning

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Twelve-month-old infants learn crossmodal associations between visual objects and natural sounds in ecologically valid situations

Seeing and Perceiving ◽

10.1163/187847612x647504 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 25 (0) ◽

pp. 117 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yi-Chuan Chen ◽

Gert Westermann

Keyword(s):

Ecological Validity ◽

Real Life ◽

Visual Object ◽

Eye Tracker ◽

Natural Sounds ◽

Object Processing ◽

Association Learning ◽

Visual Objects ◽

Crossmodal Associations ◽

Novel Associations

Infants are able to learn novel associations between visual objects and auditory linguistic labels (such as a dog and the sound /dɔg/) by the end of their first year of life. Surprisingly, at this age they seem to fail to learn the associations between visual objects and natural sounds (such as a dog and its barking sound). Researchers have therefore suggested that linguistic learning is special (Fulkerson and Waxman, 2007) or that unfamiliar sounds overshadow visual object processing (Robinson and Sloutsky, 2010). However, in previous studies visual stimuli were paired with arbitrary sounds in contexts lacking ecological validity. In the present study, we create animations of two novel animals and two realistic animal calls to construct two audiovisual stimuli. In the training phase, each animal was presented in motions that mimicked animal behaviour in real life: in a short movie, the animal ran (or jumped) from the periphery to the center of the monitor, and it made calls while raising its head. In the test phase, static images of both animals were presented side-by-side and the sound for one of the animals was played. Infant looking times to each stimulus were recorded with an eye tracker. We found that following the sound, 12-month-old infants preferentially looked at the animal corresponding to the sound. These results show that 12-month-old infants are able to learn novel associations between visual objects and natural sounds in an ecologically valid situation, thereby challenging our current understanding of the development of crossmodal association learning.

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