A virtual shopping task for the assessment of executive functions: Validity for people with stroke

Shira Yama Nir-Hadad, Patrice L. Weiss, Anna Waizman, Natalia Schwartz, Rachel Kizony

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The importance of assessing executive functions (EF) using ecologically valid assessments has been discussed extensively. Due to the difficulty of carrying out such assessments in real-world settings on a regular basis, virtual reality has been proposed as a technique to provide complex functional tasks under a variety of differing conditions while measuring various aspects of performance and controlling for stimuli. The main goal of this study was to examine the discriminant, construct-convergent and ecological validity of the Adapted Four-Item Shopping Task, an assessment of the Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL) of shopping. Nineteen people with stroke, aged 50–85 years, and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy participants performed the shopping task in both the SeeMe Virtual Interactive Shopping environment and a real shopping environment (the hospital cafeteria) in a counterbalanced order. The shopping task outcomes were compared to clinical measures of EF. The findings provided good initial support for the validity of the Adapted Four-Item Shopping Task as an IADL assessment that requires the use of EF for people with stroke. Further studies should examine this task with a larger sample of people with stroke as well as with other populations who have deficits in EF.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)808-833
Number of pages26
JournalNeuropsychological Rehabilitation
Volume27
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Jul 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • Ecological validity
  • Executive functions
  • IADL
  • Stroke
  • Virtual reality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
  • Rehabilitation
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Applied Psychology

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