新的虚拟现实认知评估

Virtual realityisn't just for gaming. Researchers can use VR to assess participants' attention, memory and problem-solving abilities in real world settings. By using VR technology to examine how folks complete daily tasks, like making a grocery list, researchers can better help clinical populations that struggle with executive functioning to manage their everyday lives.

领导作者正诗张是一个博士学位。在Daniel Krawczyk，博士博士学位，博览会中心副主任的学生。与德克萨斯科技大学健康科学中心的研究员一起，该团队调查了VR是否可以用来有效地测试参与者的执行功能负载，或者一个人可以处理目标以实现目标的信息。

The researchers adapted the Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool's (VRFCAT) "kitchen test", where participants plan a trip to the grocery store by comparing ingredients in kitchen cabinets to a list of recipes. Making a grocery list is an everyday task and should therefore accurately capture participants' daily working memory and performance. "Function-led tasks using VR technology allow us to maintain a balance between ecological validity and experimental control," said Chang.

In the virtual kitchen, 42 healthy adult college students memorized a slew of ingredients from a recipe list. The participants then navigated the kitchen to check for ingredients and tried to remember which ingredients they found. They returned to their recipe list, crossing off all the ingredients they didn't need at the store. Once they finished checking their grocery list, participants picked up their wallet and left the virtual kitchen.

To test their executive functional load, the researchers increased the number of ingredients and recipes to be memorized. Participants took longer to complete their grocery lists when they had to memorize more ingredients. This aligns with the researchers' prediction that participants' task performance would decrease as functional load increases, which suggests that this VR assessment can effectively test executive functional load.

研究人员惊讶地发现，参与者的工作记忆与他们进行任务的程度无关。“人们可能会花费相同的时间在任务上，并制作相同的错误数量，但它们可以具有完全不同的工作记忆能力，”张。

在进一步分析后，研究人员意识到参与者实际上将其战略转换为执行功能负荷增加。一些参与者试图在查看食谱前尽可能多地记住尽可能多的成分，而其他参与者在通过厨房橱柜中经常在翻录器之间切换并检查配方列表。

This strategy-switching explains why the researchers did not see a relationship between performance and participants' working memory. "This study indicates that our strategies have a dramatic effect on our capacity. If you enter into a task prepared with a plan, you will get the most out of your brain and see much better performance," said Krawczyk. Participants' performance reflects their executive function and supports the idea that the researchers' VR assessment can effectively test participants' executive function load.

研究人员希望利用VR评估来帮助患有执行职能损害的人们。“我们使用VR技术来创建可以使用的执行功能评估neuropsychologyto understand how veterans and other clinical populations manage their everyday lives," said Chang.

The research was published inComputers in Human Behavior Reports.