Virtual-reality neuropsychological tests offer a novel way to assess real-life executive functioning within the context of standardized test conditions whilst maximizing ecological validity. Given the limited empirical evidence base for many of these virtual-reality tests, the current study aimed to further examine the relative ecological validity, sensitivity to brain-injury and diagnostic accuracy of the virtual-reality based Jansari assessment of Executive Functions (JEF). To do this, the test was compared to seven standard tests of executive function, in a New Zealand sample of 27 brain-injured and 28 non brain-injured participants matched for age, gender and education. The JEF’s ecological validity was supported, with JEF total percent scores exhibiting large correlations with participants’ independently reported levels of everyday functioning, as measured by the Dysexecutive Questionnaire: Independent-Rater (DEX-IR) and Patient Competency Rating Scale-Relative (PCRS-R) (both rs = 0.606, p < 0.001). Compared to the standard executive function test variables included in the current study, the JEF’s associations with the everyday functioning measures were the largest, but only significantly larger than the respective correlations of some standard executive function test variables. These results indicated that the JEF is trending towards being relatively more ecologically valid than most of the standard executive function tests included in the study. The JEF also exhibited good sensitivity to brain-injury and diagnostic accuracy for discriminating brain-injured from non brain-injured participants, which was generally consistent with most of the standard tests, but only significantly better than some. These results provide empirical support for the JEF’s clinical utility, particularly in the assessment of brain-injured persons’ functional abilities. It also suggests that both virtual-reality and standard executive function tests have a place in the routine neuropsychological test batteries used to assess brain-injured persons.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:canterbury.ac.nz/oai:ir.canterbury.ac.nz:10092/10865 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Perniskie, Ellie Marie |
| Publisher | University of Canterbury. Department of Psychology |
| Source Sets | University of Canterbury |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic thesis or dissertation, Text |
| Rights | Copyright Ellie Marie Perniskie, http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/thesis/etheses_copyright.shtml |
| Relation | NZCU |
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