Development and Validation of a Modified Multiple Errands Test for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Background: The aims of the current study were to adapt a version of the MET for people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) and assess its ecological and construct validity. Material and Methods: Using a correlational design, 40 participants with IDs were invited to complete a battery of neuropsychological assessments and the modified Multiple Errands Test for Intellectual Disabilities (mMET-IDs). Results: The ability to successfully complete tasks on the mMET-IDs correlated significantly with measures of the Supervisory Attentional System, namely, the Tower of London Test and the Six Parts Test. However, performance on the mMET-IDs and the Six Parts Test could be accounted for by Verbal IQ and receptive vocabulary. The mMET-IDs failed to correlate with the DEX-IR. Conclusions: The mMET-IDs can be successfully used to assess some aspects of the Supervisory Attentional System in people with IDs. Further development is needed, however, to improve the ecological validity of the mMET-IDs

Ecological validity of a simplified version of the multiple errands shopping test

Shallice and Burgess (1991) reported the utility of the Multiple Errands Test (MET) in discriminating executive deficits in three frontal lobe patients with preserved high IQ, who were otherwise unimpaired on tests of executive function. The aim of this study was to ascertain the value of a simplified version of the MET (MET-SV) for use with the range of people more routinely encountered in clinical practice. Main findings were as follows: 1) The test discriminated well between neurological patients and controls, and the group effects remained when the difference in current general cognitive functions (WAIS-R FSIQ) was taken into account. 2) The best predictors of performance in the healthy control group (n = 46) were age and the number of times participants asked for help (with more requests associated with poorer performance). 3) In the neurological group, two clear patterns of failure emerged, with performance either characterized by rule breaking or failure to achieve tasks. These two patterns were associated with different dysexecutive symptoms in everyday life. 4) The patients not only made more errors than controls, but also different ones. A scoring method that took this into account markedly increased test sensitivity. 5) Many patients passed traditional tests of executive frontal lobe function but still failed the MET-SV This pattern was strongly associated with observed dysexecutive symptoms in everyday life. The results demonstrate the clinical utility of the test, and suggest that there are two common and independent sources of failure on multitasking tests in a general neurological population: memory dysfunction, and initiation problems

Left lateralization in autobiographical memory: An fMRI study using the expert archival paradigm

In brain-imaging and behavioural research, studies of autobiographical memory have higher ecological validity than controlled laboratory memory studies. However, they also have less controllability over the variables investigated. Here we present a novel technique—the expert archival paradigm—that increases controllability while maintaining ecological validity. Stimuli were created from games played by two international-level chess masters. We then asked these two players to perform a memory task with stimuli generated from their own games and stimuli generated from other players’ games while they were scanned using fMRI. We found a left lateralised pattern of brain activity which was very similar in both masters. The brain areas activated were the left temporo-parietal junction and left frontal areas. The expert archival paradigm has the advantage of not requiring an interview to assess the participants’ autobiographical memories, and affords the possibility of measuring their accuracy of remembering as well as their brain activity related to remote and recent memories. It can also be used in any field of expertise, including arts, sciences and sports, in which archival data are available

Automated Ecological Assessment of Physical Activity: Advancing Direct Observation.

Technological advances provide opportunities for automating direct observations of physical activity, which allow for continuous monitoring and feedback. This pilot study evaluated the initial validity of computer vision algorithms for ecological assessment of physical activity. The sample comprised 6630 seconds per camera (three cameras in total) of video capturing up to nine participants engaged in sitting, standing, walking, and jogging in an open outdoor space while wearing accelerometers. Computer vision algorithms were developed to assess the number and proportion of people in sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous activity, and group-based metabolic equivalents of tasks (MET)-minutes. Means and standard deviations (SD) of bias/difference values, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) assessed the criterion validity compared to accelerometry separately for each camera. The number and proportion of participants sedentary and in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) had small biases (within 20% of the criterion mean) and the ICCs were excellent (0.82-0.98). Total MET-minutes were slightly underestimated by 9.3-17.1% and the ICCs were good (0.68-0.79). The standard deviations of the bias estimates were moderate-to-large relative to the means. The computer vision algorithms appeared to have acceptable sample-level validity (i.e., across a sample of time intervals) and are promising for automated ecological assessment of activity in open outdoor settings, but further development and testing is needed before such tools can be used in a diverse range of settings

Robotic Rabbit Companions: amusing or a nuisance?

Most of the studies in human-robot interaction involve controlled experiments in a laboratory and only a limited number of studies have put robotic companions into people’s home. Introducing robots into a real-life environment does not only pose many technical challenges but also raises several methodological issues. And even though there might be a gain in ecological validity of the findings, there are other drawbacks that limit the validity of the results. In this paper we reflect on some of these issues based on the experience we gained in the SERA project where a robotic companion was put in the homes of a few people for ten days. We try to draw some general lessons from this experience

Visual search in ecological and non-ecological displays: Evidence for a non-monotonic effect of complexity on performance

Copyright @ 2013 PLoSThis article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Considerable research has been carried out on visual search, with single or multiple targets. However, most studies have used artificial stimuli with low ecological validity. In addition, little is known about the effects of target complexity and expertise in visual search. Here, we investigate visual search in three conditions of complexity (detecting a king, detecting a check, and detecting a checkmate) with chess players of two levels of expertise (novices and club players). Results show that the influence of target complexity depends on level of structure of the visual display. Different functional relationships were found between artificial (random chess positions) and ecologically valid (game positions) stimuli: With artificial, but not with ecologically valid stimuli, a “pop out” effect was present when a target was visually more complex than distractors but could be captured by a memory chunk. This suggests that caution should be exercised when generalising from experiments using artificial stimuli with low ecological validity to real-life stimuli.This study is funded by Brunel University and the article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Implications of external validity for research on polycentric and complex adaptive systems

Much recent research has examined the implications of policy analysis for complex adaptive social-ecological systems. System complexity comes from both the natural environment as well as complex institutional arrangements that humans use to manage and regulate such systems. Such research has systematically investigated how the interaction of a host of variables relate to some evaluation criteria. Many scholars argue that a deep understanding of the social-ecological systems, however, comes at the expense of externally valid inferences to other systems. In this paper I argue that having a nuanced understanding of the social-ecological system actually helps one to understand which types of policy domains an analysis might be generalized. --Complex Adaptive Systems,External Validity,Polycentric Systems

The Definition and Choice of Environmental Commodities for Nonmarket Valuation

Economic analyses of nature must somehow define the “environmental commodities” to which values are attached. This paper articulates a set of principles to guide the choice and interpretation of nonmarket commodities. We describe how complex natural systems can be decomposed consistent with what can be called “ecological production theory.” Ecological production theory--like conventional production theory--distinguishes between biophysical inputs, process, and outputs. We argue that a systems approach to the decomposition and presentation of natural commodities can inform and possibly improve the validity of nonmarket environmental valuation studies. We raise concerns about the interpretation, usefulness, and accuracy of benefit estimates derived without reference to ecological production theory.nonmarket valuation, stated preference, revealed preference, commodities, endpoints

Evaluating three frameworks for the value of information: adaptation to task characteristics and probabilistic structure

We identify, and provide an integration of, three frameworks for measuring the informativeness of cues in a multiple-cue judgment task. Cues can be ranked by information value according to expected information gain (Bayesian framework), cue-outcome correlation (Correlational framework), or ecological validity (Ecological framework). In three experiments, all frameworks significantly predicted information acquisition, with the Correlational (then the Bayesian) framework being most successful. Additionally, participants adapted successfully to task characteristics (cue cost, time pressure, and information limitations) – altering the gross amount of information acquired, but not responding to more subtle features of the cues’ information value that would have been beneficial. Rational analyses of our task environments indicate that participants' behavior can be considered successful from a boundedly rational standpoint