scholarly journals Can Self-report in a Virtual Environment Enhance our Understanding of Hoarding Deficits? A Pilot Investigation

Heliyon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. e07986
Author(s):  
Yasara Nayanthara Somaratne ◽  
James Collett ◽  
Alexander De Foe
1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Birchwood ◽  
Jo Smith ◽  
Fiona Macmillan ◽  
Bridget Hogg ◽  
Rekha Prasad ◽  
...  

SynopsisRecognition of prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia offers the potential of early intervention to avert relapse and re-hospitalization (Carpenter & Heinrichs, 1983). The present study investigated how a strategy to detect prodromal signs might be effectively applied in the clinical setting. A standard monitoring system was developed involving completion of a new early signs scale (ESS) measuring changes in key symptoms phenomenologically (self-report) and behaviourally (observer report). The ESS was subject to rigorous psychometric evaluation and tested in a prospective pilot investigation. The ESS reliably identified early signs and predicted relapse with an overall accuracy of 79%. Several different patterns of relapse were identified. Observer reports compensated for loss of insight in some patients. In two cases where early signs indices were detected, prompt increases in medication appeared to arrest relapse and avert readmission. The ESS offers itself as a reliable, valid and administratively feasible measure and demonstrates considerable potential as a cost-effective procedure for secondary prevention.


2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebru Cubukcu ◽  
Jack L Nasar

Discrepanices between perceived and actual distance may affect people's spatial behavior. In a previous study Nasar, using self report of behavior, found that segmentation (measured through the number of buildings) along the route affected choice of parking garage and path from the parking garage to a destination. We recreated that same environment in a three-dimensional virtual environment and conducted a test to see whether the same factors emerged under these more controlled conditions and to see whether spatial behavior in the virtual environment accurately reflected behavior in the real environment. The results confirmed similar patterns of response in the virtual and real environments. This supports the use of virtual reality as a tool for predicting behavior in the real world and confirms increases in segmentation as related to increases in perceived distance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 3546-3551
Author(s):  
Tamanna Nurai

Cybersickness continues to become a negative consequence that degrades the interface for users of virtual worlds created for Virtual Reality (VR) users. There are various abnormalities that might cause quantifiable changes in body awareness when donning an Head Mounted Display (HMD) in a Virtual Environment (VE). VR headsets do provide VE that matches the actual world and allows users to have a range of experiences. Motion sickness and simulation sickness performance gives self-report assessments of cybersickness with VEs. In this study a simulator sickness questionnaire is being used to measure the aftereffects of the virtual environment. This research aims to answer if Immersive VR induce cybersickness and impact equilibrium coordination. The present research is formed as a cross-sectional observational analysis. According to the selection criteria, a total of 40 subjects would be recruited from AVBRH, Sawangi Meghe for the research. With intervention being used the experiment lasted 6 months. Simulator sickness questionnaire is used to evaluate the after-effects of a virtual environment. It holds a single period for measuring motion sickness and evaluation of equilibrium tests were done twice at exit and after 10 mins. Virtual reality being used in video games is still in its development. Integrating gameplay action into the VR experience will necessitate a significant amount of study and development. The study has evaluated if Immersive VR induce cybersickness and impact equilibrium coordination. To measure cybersickness, numerous scales have been developed. The essence of cybersickness has been revealed owing to work on motion sickness in a simulated system.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Toet ◽  
Joske M. Houtkamp ◽  
Paul E. Vreugdenhil

This study investigated whether simulated darkness influences the affective appraisal of a desktop virtual environment (VE). In the real world darkness often evokes thoughts of vulnerability, threat, and danger, and may automatically precipitate emotional responses consonant with those thoughts (fear of darkness). This influences the affective appraisal of a given environment after dark and the way humans behave in that environment in conditions of low lighting. Desktop VEs are increasingly deployed to study the effects of environmental qualities and (architectural or lighting) interventions on human behaviour and feelings of safety. Their (ecological) validity for these purposes depends critically on their ability to correctly address the user’s cognitive and affective experience. However, it is currently not known how and to what extent simulated darkness in desktop (i.e., non-immersive) VEs affects the user’s affective appraisal of the represented environment. In this study young female volunteers explored either a daytime or a night-time version of a desktop VE representing a deserted prototypical Dutch polder landscape. The affective appraisal of the VE and the emotional response of the participants were measured through self-report. To enhance the personal relevance of the simulation, a fraction of the participants was led to believe that the virtual exploration tour would prepare them for a follow-up tour through the real world counterpart of the VE. The results show that the VE was appraised as slightly less pleasant and more arousing in simulated darkness (compared to a daylight) condition. The fictitious follow-up assignment had no emotional effects and did not influence the affective appraisal of the VE. Further research is required to assess on the validity of desktop VEs for both etiological (e.g., the effects of signs of darkness on navigation behaviour and fear of crime) and intervention (e.g., effects of street lighting on feelings of safety) research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 835-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Welsch ◽  
Heiko Hecht ◽  
Christoph von Castell

Psychopathic traits are often associated with interpersonal and affective deficits. This study examined the impact of psychopathy on judgments of comfortable egocentric interpersonal distance (Experiment 1) and exocentric interpersonal distance (Experiment 2). We selected a student sample and measured psychopathy via self-report. To study spatial behavior under highly controlled conditions, these participants were immersed in a virtual environment. In Experiment 1, they approached a virtual person with angry or happy facial expression until a comfortable distance for conversation was reached. In Experiment 2, participants adjusted a comfortable distance between two avatars. Our results suggest that psychopathy alters the regulation of interpersonal distance with respect to facial expression of the approached as well as between avatars of mixed sex.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 3367
Author(s):  
Nadia Ali ◽  
Amanda Caceres ◽  
Eric W. Hall ◽  
Dawn Laney

The present pilot study examines subjective reported symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity (AD/H) in adults with Fabry disease (FD) in comparison with existing normative control data. Existing data from 69 adults with FD via the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment Adult Self-Report questionnaire were analyzed. The results demonstrated a higher prevalence of AD/H symptoms in adults with FD than in the general United States population, with a roughly equal endorsement of Inattention/Attention Deficit symptoms (AD), Hyperactivity-Impulsivity (H-I) symptoms, and Combined Inattention/hyperactivity-impulsivity (C) symptoms. No gender differences were observed. While all subjects endorsing H-I symptoms fell into the symptomatic range on the AD/H scale, only two-thirds of subjects endorsing AD did so. This suggests that attention difficulties with FD are not solely explained by ADHD. Adults with FD who endorsed the AD, H-I, and C symptoms were also more likely to report mean adaptive functioning difficulties. These findings support the growing literature regarding attention difficulties in adults with FD, as well as suggesting a previously unrecognized risk of AD/H symptoms. Future research involving the objective assessment of ADHD in adults with FD is recommended. When serving adults with FD clinically, healthcare professionals should address multiple areas of care, including physical, psychological, and cognitive arenas.


PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Toet ◽  
Joske M. Houtkamp ◽  
Paul E. Vreugdenhil

This study investigated whether personal relevance influences the affective appraisal of a desktop virtual environment (VE) in simulated darkness. In the real world, darkness often evokes thoughts of vulnerability, threat, and danger, and may automatically precipitate emotional responses consonant with those thoughts (fear of darkness). This influences the affective appraisal of a given environment after dark and the way humans behave in that environment in conditions of low lighting. Desktop VEs are increasingly deployed to study the effects of environmental qualities and (architectural or lighting) interventions on human behaviour and feelings of safety. Their (ecological) validity for these purposes depends critically on their ability to correctly address the user’s cognitive and affective experience. Previous studies with desktop (i.e., non-immersive) VEs found that simulated darkness only slightly affects the user’s behavioral and emotional responses to the represented environment, in contrast to the responses observed for immersive VEs. We hypothesize that the desktop VE scenarios used in previous studies less effectively induced emotional and behavioral responses because they lacked personal relevance. In addition, factors like signs of social presence and relatively high levels of ambient lighting may also have limited these responses. In this study, young female volunteers explored either a daytime or a night-time (low ambient light level) version of a desktop VE representing a deserted (no social presence) prototypical Dutch polder landscape. To enhance the personal relevance of the simulation, a fraction of the participants were led to believe that the virtual exploration tour would prepare them for a follow-up tour through the real world counterpart of the VE. The affective appraisal of the VE and the emotional response of the participants were measured through self-report. The results show that the VE was appraised as slightly less pleasant and more arousing in simulated darkness (compared to a daylight) condition, as expected. However, the fictitious follow-up assignment had no emotional effects and did not influence the affective appraisal of the VE. Further research is required to establish the qualities that may enhance the validity of desktop VEs for both etiological (e.g., the effects of signs of darkness on navigation behaviour and fear of crime) and intervention (e.g., effects of street lighting on feelings of safety) research.


2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy N. Bailenson ◽  
Kim Swinth ◽  
Crystal Hoyt ◽  
Susan Persky ◽  
Alex Dimov ◽  
...  

The current study examined how assessments of copresence in an immersive virtual environment are influenced by variations in how much an embodied agent resembles a human being in appearance and behavior. We measured the extent to which virtual representations were both perceived and treated as if they were human via self-report, behavioral, and cognitive dependent measures. Distinctive patterns of findings emerged with respect to the behavior and appearance of embodied agents depending on the definition and operationalization of copresence. Independent and interactive effects for appearance and behavior were found suggesting that assessing the impact of behavioral realism on copresence without taking into account the appearance of the embodied agent (and vice versa) can lead to misleading conclusions. Consistent with the results of previous research, copresence was lowest when there was a large mismatch between the appearance and behavioral realism of an embodied agent.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 10461
Author(s):  
Shufeng Zhang ◽  
Xuelei Feng ◽  
Yong Shen

Presence is used to assess the subjective experience of being in one place when physically situated in another. Recently, the research on presence has gained increasing attention due to the wide use of immersive audio technologies. Currently, the most widely-used measurement of presence is based on post-experiment self-report questionnaires. It is reliable but imperfect due to the psychological changes caused by the act of answering the questionnaire when immersed in the virtual environment. Therefore, the present work aims to find an objective way to measure presence, and electroencephalography (EEG) was investigated as a possible tool for this objective measurement. In this study, two listening tests were conducted, where eight loudspeakers were used to reproduce urban soundscapes to stimulate auditory presence. Presence was measured by both questionnaires and EEG. Results showed a significant correlation between T/B (Theta/Beta Ratio) extracted from EEG and subjective presence levels assessed by questionnaires, suggesting the possible use of EEG to measure presence objectively. This study could bring some insight for the research of presence, and related technologies, such as VR, video games and immersive audio production.


2018 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Palmer ◽  
Rachel K. Bolognone ◽  
Skipp Thomsen ◽  
Deanna Britton ◽  
Joshua Schindler ◽  
...  

Objectives: Expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) is a safe, effective intervention that can be performed at home and may be beneficial for individuals with voice and swallowing disorders. To date there have been few studies of EMST in the head and neck cancer population, and there are no previous reports of its use after supracricoid partial laryngectomy (SCPL). The current prospective clinical pilot study was undertaken to determine the safety and efficacy of a 4-week treatment program. Methods: Six participants were recruited who had previously undergone SCPL, were medically stable, and had no contraindications for use of the device. At baseline, objective respiratory measurements were collected, dietary status was recorded, and participants were asked to complete a series of validated self-report instruments relating to voice, swallowing, breathing, and cough. Following the completion of treatment, baseline measures were repeated, and participant feedback was solicited. Results: The majority of individuals found the device easy to use (83%) and beneficial (83%). The side effects of treatment were relatively minor and included dizziness, muscle inflammation, and vocal fatigue. There were improvements in 2 measures from before to after treatment, namely, an average 21% increase in peak cough flow (from 371.67 to 451.33 L/min) and a 38% decrease on the Dyspnea Index (from 6.17 to 3.83). Other measures showed inconsistent changes. Conclusions: EMST appeared to improve cough strength and reduce dyspnea symptoms after SCPL. Further study of the relative efficacy of EMST compared to other rehabilitation protocols after SCPL is needed.


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