Systematic review of memory assessment in virtual reality: evaluating convergent and divergent validity with traditional neuropsychological measures

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Abstract

Introduction

The evaluation of memory is a crucial aspect of both cognitive research and clinical applications, as it offers valuable insights into an individual’s cognitive wellbeing and performance. Conventional neuropsychological assessments represent the established method for assessing different aspects of memory. Recent technological advancements, specifically in the field of virtual reality (VR), have introduced novel methods for evaluating memory.

Objective

This systematic review aims to examine the current state of memory assessment using VR technologies, assessing the degree of convergence and divergence between VR-based memory assessments and conventional neuropsychological tests.

Method

A systematic review of the literature was conducted searching PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science databases, leading to the incorporation of 24 studies. Studies were grouped according to the examined memory domain (episodic, prospective, spatial domain). Convergence and divergence validity were examined for each, and information on software and hardware features was collected.

Results

This review demonstrates a notable alignment between VR-based memory assessments and conventional neuropsychological tests. Moreover, VR tasks have shown to exhibit associations with executive functions and overall cognitive performance. The inclusion of various ecological contexts, such as residential environments, commercial establishments, and simulated scenarios, serves to augment the ecological validity of memory evaluations conducted in VR.

Discussion

The findings indicate that VR assessments demonstrate a functional perspective by effectively capturing the dynamic relationship between memory, executive functions, and overall cognitive performance. Nevertheless, it is imperative to acknowledge and tackle certain constraints that may hinder the widespread adoption and utilization of VR tasks. These limitations encompass factors such as restricted accessibility to VR tasks and the presence of heterogeneity in VR hardware and software. The dynamic and ever-changing nature of VR technology presents a range of potential avenues for future investigation and utilization in the domain of memory evaluation.

Related collections

Most cited references 62

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Is Open Access

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Evaluating the ecological validity of neuropsychological tests has become an increasingly important topic over the past decade. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the research on the ecological validity of neuropsychological tests, as it pertains to everyday cognitive skills. This review is presented in the context of several theoretical issues facing ecological validity research. Overall, the research suggests that many neuropsychological tests have a moderate level of ecological validity when predicting everyday cognitive functioning. The strongest relationships were noted when the outcome measure corresponded to the cognitive domain assessed by the neuropsychological tests. Several other factors that may moderate the degree of ecological validity established for neuropsychological tests are in need of further exploration. These factors include the effects of the population being tested, the approach utilized (verisimilitude vs. veridicality), the person completing the outcome measure (significant other vs. clinician), illness severity, and time from injury until evaluation. In addition, a standard measurement of outcome for each cognitive domain is greatly needed to allow for comparison across studies.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Valentina Mancuso: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/904865/overviewRole: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role:

Eleonora Diletta Sarcinella: Role:

Francesca Bruni: Role:

Sara Arlati: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/586112/overviewRole:

Simona Gabriella Di Santo: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/988133/overviewRole:

Marco Cavallo: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1734653/overviewRole:

Pietro Cipresso: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/50919/overviewRole: Role:

Elisa Pedroli: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/195140/overviewRole: Role:

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Front Hum Neurosci

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Front Hum Neurosci

Journal ID (publisher-id): Front. Hum. Neurosci.

Title: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.

ISSN (Electronic): 1662-5161

Publication date (Electronic): 16 May 2024

Publication date Collection: 2024

Volume: 18

Electronic Location Identifier: 1380575

Affiliations

[1] ¹Faculty of Psychology, eCampus University , Novedrate, Italy

[2] ²Department of Psychology, Research Center in Communication Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore , Milan, Italy

[3] ³Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing–STIIMA National Research Council of Italy–CNR , Milan, Italy

[4] ⁴Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia , Rome, Italy

[5] ⁵Department of Psychology, University of Turin , Turin, Italy

[6] ⁶Department of Geriatrics and Cardiovascular Medicine, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano , Milan, Italy

Author notes

Edited by: Szczepan Iwanski, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology (IPiN), Poland

Reviewed by: Beata Sokołowska, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

Tomasz Kupka, Polish Dental Association, Poland

*Correspondence: Valentina Mancuso, v.mancuso95@ 123456gmail.com

Article

DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1380575

PMC ID: 11137286

PubMed ID: 38818031

SO-VID: b97679f5-37a1-490e-99f0-6f247ab0d675

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

History

Date received : 01 February 2024

Date accepted : 03 May 2024

Page count

Figures: 2, Tables: 3, Equations: 0, References: 62, Pages: 31, Words: 21492

Funding

The authors declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by Italian Ministry of Health–PRIN 2022R8P3TZ.

Custom metadata

section-at-acceptance Brain Health and Clinical Neuroscience

ScienceOpen disciplines: Neurosciences

Keywords: convergent validity,virtual reality,memory assessment,psychometric validation,ecological validity

Data availability: