This study compared the ability of clinical and ecologic
simulation measures to predict performance on environment-specific
criterion measures of wayfinding. Thirty-one unilateral stroke
participants comprised the right and left hemisphere groups
(16 patients with left sided and 15 patients with right sided
strokes). Participants completed a battery of clinical tasks
(e.g., traditional paper-and-pencil measures of visualization,
mental rotation, visual memory and spatial orientation), ecologic
simulations (e.g., slide route recall and visualization of a
model town from differing perspectives) and environment specific
criterion tasks (e.g., route recall and directional orientation).
The groups were equivalent in age, sex, education, handedness,
and weeks since stroke. Both ecologic simulation tasks were
found to have fairly good internal consistency and 1 simulation
task was significantly related to real world wayfinding. Of
the clinical tasks, 1 visual memory test was correlated with
a directional orientation criterion task, but none correlated
with route navigation ability. Results are consistent with
literature purporting the benefits of ecologic simulation tasks
as predictors of real world functioning. (JINS, 2001,
7, 675–682.)
