title: Validity of the Virtual Reality Stroop Task (VRST) in active duty military.
abstract: Virtual environments provide the ability to systematically deliver test stimuli in simulated contexts relevant to real world behavior. The current study evaluated the validity of the Virtual Reality Stroop Task (VRST), which presents test stimuli during a virtual reality military convoy with simulated combat threats. Active duty Army personnel (N = 49) took the VRST, a customized version of the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM)-Fourth Edition TBI Battery (2007) that included the addition of the ANAM Stroop and Tower tests, and traditional neuropsychological measures, including the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System version of the Color-Word Interference Test. Preliminary convergent and discriminant validity was established, and performance on the VRST was significantly associated with computerized and traditional tests of attention and executive functioning. Valid virtual reality cognitive assessments open new lines of inquiry into the impact of environmental stimuli on performance and offer promise for the future of neuropsychological assessments used with military personnel.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2) Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, WA 98431, USA. drchristinaarmstrong@gmail.com
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: Greg M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Reger
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Albert A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Courtney
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Parsons
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult