The application of virtual reality technology in rehabilitation.

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology with a variety of potential benefits for many aspects of rehabilitation assessment, treatment, and research. Through its capacity to allow the creation and control of dynamic 3-dimensional, ecologically valid stimulus environments within which behavioral responding can be recorded and measured, VR offers clinical assessment and rehabilitation options that are not available with traditional methods. Initial applications of VR in other aspects of medicine and psychology have yielded encouraging results, but continued research and understanding of this evolving technology will be crucial for its effective integration into rehabilitation. This article provides a brief introduction to VR technology, examines the specific benefits VR offers consumers and providers of rehabilitation services and discusses potential areas of application and important considerations in applying this technology. Finally, 2 examples of current Vr applications are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Cognitive-behavioral therapy for bipolar disorder and Cognitive therapy for delusions, voices, and paranoia.

Reviews the books, Cognitive-behavioral therapy for bipolar disorder by Monica Ramirez Basco and A. John Russo (see record 1996-98072-000) and Cognitive therapy for delusions, voices, and paranoia by Paul Chadwick, Max Birchwood, and Peter Trower (see record 1996-97983-000). The mental health service system is largely based on the oft encountered, often implicit, belief among professionals that, since Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and other severe forms of mental illnesses have been shown to have a biological basis, there is no point in providing psychotherapy for individuals afflicted with these disorders. These two books represent a welcome exception to this situation. While different in many ways, including their treatment goals and many of their theoretical underpinnings, both books represent an attempt to allow the severely mentally ill to benefit from techniques which have been demonstrated to be effective for less severely disturbed populations. Both approaches illustrate ways that the severely mentally ill may be able to be helped through psychosocial intervention, and both acknowledge the importance of client collaboration in treatment, a consideration easy to overlook when the client has a severe mental illness. The books are also similar in that neither one offers sufficient empirical data to support the effectiveness of its approach. The two books reviewed here represent, in the reviewer's opinion, significant contributions to the field of psychotherapy. Even if the clinician takes issue with the techniques presented or with the theoretical assumptions underlying the approaches, he/she should come away with a renewed appreciation of the importance of including the client in treatment planning, even if the client has a severe mental illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age effect on components of episodic memory and feature binding: A virtual reality study.

Objective: The aims were (1) to explore the effects of normal aging on the main aspects of episodic memory—what, where, and when,—and on feature binding in a virtual environment; (2) to explore the influence of the mode of learning, intentional versus incidental; and (3) to benchmark virtual environment findings collected with older adults against data recorded in classical neuropsychological tests. Method: We tested a population of 82 young adults and 78 older adults without dementia (they participated in a short battery of neuropsychological tests). All the participants drove a car in an urban virtual environment composing of 9 turns and specific areas. Half of the participants were told to drive through the virtual town; the other half were asked to drive and to memorize the environment (itinerary, elements, etc.). All aspects of episodic memory were then assessed (what, where, when, and binding). Results: The older participants had less recollection of the spatiotemporal context of events than the younger with intentional encoding (p p p p     

VR技术在矿工安全培训中的应用研究

传统的矿工培训高成本、低效益,不能适应井下复杂多变特殊环境的要求。本文应用计算机技术,采用基于虚拟现实的方法,构建了井下生产的虚拟环境;在这个虚拟环境中,矿工可以身临其境地去接触、认知、决策和处理各种突变情况,其决策结果会立即反馈给受训者,由此提高矿工的培训效果。     

Psychological benefits of exercise paired with virtual reality: Outdoor exercise energizes whereas indoor virtual exercise relaxes.

In the present study the authors sought to evaluate the psychological effects of exercise when paired with virtual reality. One-hundred and twelve introductory psychology students (47 male and 65 female) were randomly assigned to one of three 20-min experimental conditions including (a) taking a brisk outdoor walk around a college campus, (b) walking on a laboratory treadmill combined with a virtual reality video presentation of the same college campus walk, or (c) viewing the virtual reality walk without participating in any actual exercise. Several standardized mood and enjoyment measures were administered immediately before and after the experimental conditions. Results suggest that greater energy was experienced while walking outside whereas less energy was reported when viewing the virtual reality walk with no actual exercise. These findings were most pronounced for female participants. Both female and male participants walking in the laboratory with the virtual reality were more relaxed and experienced the least tension of the three conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analgesic effects of posthypnotic suggestions and virtual reality distraction on thermal pain.

The individual and combined effects of posthypnotic suggestion (PHS) and virtual reality distraction (VRD) on experimentally induced thermal pain were examined using a 2 × 2, between-groups design. After receiving baseline thermal pain, each participant received hypnosis or no hypnosis, followed by VRD or no VRD during another pain stimulus. Consistent with the hypothesis that hypnosis and VRD work via different mechanisms, results show that posthypnotic analgesia was moderated by hypnotizability but VRD analgesia was not. The impact of PHSs for analgesia was specific to high hypnotizables, whereas VRD was effective independent of hypnotizability. Results also show a nonsignificant but predicted pattern for high hypnotizables: Audio hypnosis combined with VRD reduced worst pain 22% more and pain unpleasantness 25% more than did VRD alone. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Twelve-month follow-up of virtual reality and standard exposure therapies for the fear of flying.

This study reports the 12-mo follow-up from patients with the fear of flying who were treated in a controlled study and randomly assigned (n=49) to virtual reality exposure (VRE) therapy, standard exposure (SE) therapy, or to a wait-list control (WL). VRE and SE were equally superior to WL. At 12 mo posttreatment, data were gathered on 24 of the 30 (80%) patients who were assigned to VRE or SE. Patients maintained their treatment gains, and 92% of VRE participants and 91% of SE participants had flown on a real airplane since the graduation flight. This is the 1st year-long follow-up of patients having been treated with VRE and indicates that short-term treatment can have lasting effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Virtual reality for the psychophysiological assessment of phobic fear: Responses during virtual tunnel driving.

An overall assessment of phobic fear requires not only a verbal self-report of fear but also an assessment of behavioral and physiological responses. Virtual reality can be used to simulate realistic (phobic) situations and therefore should be useful for inducing emotions in a controlled, standardized way. Verbal and physiological fear reactions were examined in 15 highly tunnel-fearful and 15 matched control participants in 3 virtual driving scenarios: an open environment, a partially open tunnel (gallery), and a closed tunnel. Highly tunnel-fearful participants were characterized by elevated fear responses specifically during tunnel drives as reflected in verbal fear ratings, heart rate reactions, and startle responses. Heart rate and fear ratings differentiated highly tunnel-fearful from control participants with an accuracy of 88% and 93%, respectively. Results indicate that virtual environments are valuable tools for the assessment of fear reactions and should be used in future experimental research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning science in virtual reality multimedia environments: Role of methods and media.

College students learned about botany through an agent-based multimedia game. In Experiment 1, students received either spoken or identical on-screen text explanations; in addition, the lesson was presented either via a desktop display (D), a head-mounted display (HMD) used while sitting, or an HMD used while walking (W). In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of presenting explanations as narration (N), text (T), or both (NT) within the D and W conditions. Students scored higher on retention, transfer, and program ratings in N conditions than in T conditions. The NT condition produced results in between. Students gave higher ratings of presence when learning with HMDs, but media did not affect performance on measures of retention, transfer, or program ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correcting distance estimates by interacting with immersive virtual environments: Effects of task and available sensory information.

The tendency to underestimate egocentric distances in immersive virtual environments (VEs) is not well understood. However, previous research (A. R. Richardson & D. Waller, 2007) has demonstrated that a brief period of interaction with the VE prior to making distance judgments can effectively eliminate subsequent underestimation. Here the authors examine the mechanism underlying the effect of VE interaction and the conditions that may give rise to it. In Experiment 1, after interacting with an immersive VE, participants tended to overestimate distances in the physical world, indicating that the interaction involved a recalibration of the perceptual-motor system. Experiment 2 demonstrates that visual information is not necessary (and that body-based information is necessary) during the interaction period for it to have a positive effect on subsequent distance estimation accuracy. Experiment 3 illustrates that the interaction task does not need to be goal directed in order to be effective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to cognitive therapy in depression: The role of maladaptive beliefs and personality disorders.

This study examined whether personality disorder status and beliefs that characterize personality disorders affect response to cognitive therapy. In a naturalistic study, 162 depressed outpatients with and without a personality disorder were followed over the course of cognitive therapy. As would be hypothesized by cognitive theory (A. T. Beck & A. Freeman, 1990), it was not personality disorder status but rather maladaptive avoidant and paranoid beliefs that predicted variance in outcome. However, pre- to posttherapy comparisons suggested that although patients with or without comorbidity respond comparably to "real-world" cognitive therapy, they report more severe depressive symptomatology at intake and more residual symptoms at termination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Immediacy, emotion, and the filling of glasses: Next round's on you.

In this article, I respond to comments made by K. Salzinger (see record 2006-00920-010) and A. Aleman and A. S. David (see record 2006-00920-011) on my original article (see record 2005-03019-003). The constructive, reconstructive, and interpretive nature of human cognition is well illustrated by these two responses to my recent article on schizophrenia. In the original article, I used meta-analytic summaries of the published literature to show that a majority of schizophrenia patients are distinguishable from healthy people on the basis of standard tests of cognitive ability. I also showed that commonly reported brain-imaging findings lack this discriminating power, at least in terms of variables that lend themselves to meta-analytic synthesis. I went on to discuss influences, from brain disturbance to stress to endophenotypes, that may underpin the sensitivity of cognitive performance to schizophrenia. Neither Salzinger nor Aleman and David disputed the meta-analytic evidence I presented. Instead, they have their own rather oblique takes on my findings and advocate research not included in the quantitative summaries or related discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Virtual reality exposure therapy for the treatment of fear of flying: A controlled investigation.

Forty-five participants who refused to fly during a screening test and who also met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for specific phobia, agoraphobia, or panic disorder with agoraphobia were randomly assigned to 5 sessions of either virtual reality exposure (VRE) or attention-placebo group treatment (GT). At posttreatment, 65% of VRE participants and 57% of GT participants flew during a test flight. Both groups showed significant improvement following treatment on standardized self-report measures of flight anxiety, with a better outcome for the VRE group on 4 of 5 of these measures. At 6-month follow-up, however, most group differences had disappeared; VRE resulted in a better outcome on only 1 of 5 standardized flight anxiety measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The information for catching fly balls: Judging and intercepting virtual balls in a CAVE.

Visually guided action implies the existence of information as well as a control law relating that information to movement. For ball catching, the Chapman Strategy--keeping constant the rate of change of the tangent of the elevation angle (d(tan(α))/dt)--leads a catcher to the right location at the right time to intercept a fly ball. Previous studies showed the ability to detect the information and the consistency of running patterns with the use of the strategy. However, only direct manipulation of information can show its use. Participants were asked to intercept virtual balls in a Cave Automated Virtual Environment (CAVE) or to judge whether balls would pass behind or in front of them. Catchers in the CAVE successfully intercepted virtual balls with their forehead. Furthermore, the timing of judgments was related to the patterns of changing d(tan(α))/dt. The advantages and disadvantages of a CAVE as a tool for studying interceptive action are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confluent paranoia in African American psychiatric patients: An empirical study of Ridley's typology.

This study examined C. R. Ridley's (1984) typology of paranoia in African Americans, which assumes orthogonal dimensions of culture and pathology in symptom expression. Median split of scores on the Cultural Mistrust Inventory and the scale of False Beliefs and Perceptions represented high and low levels of cultural paranoia and pathological paranoia, respectively. The 4 groups of Black patients were nonparanoia, cultural paranoia, pathological paranoia, and confluent paranoia. A Fenigstein Paranoia Scale manipulation check indicated that differences in paranoid symptom expression among the groups were partially supportive of Ridley's model, as were measures of perceptions of hostility and self-esteem. Omnibus tests of between-groups differences were significant for global assessment of functioning and number of symptoms recorded in patients' charts. Predicted pattern testing revealed a significant severity dimension in mean scores across paranoia groups for some measures of clinician-rated functioning but not others. SCID interviewers' ratings of cultural mistrust and number of times restrained (or secluded) were more consistent with a pattern representing a cultural dimension than a severity dimension across paranoia groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pursuing the kernel of truth in the psychotherapy of schizophrenia.

This article concerns the utility of pursuing the kernels of truth in the delusions of schizophrenic patients as a means of empathizing with their unique personal experience of events. Pursuing the kernel of truth implies listening for the real interpersonal experiences past and present that are represented within delusions, as opposed to focusing on derivatives of infantile fantasy. This orientation restores the rights of the schizophrenic person as a perceptive observer of events with a valid, although not commonly understood, point of view. A clinical case example is presented in which the delusion of being raped while others stand idly by both literally and metaphorically described a wide variety of interpersonal experiences which had shaped the patient's life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does Virtual Reality Enhance the Management of Stress When Paired With Exercise? An Exploratory Study.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the psychological benefits of virtual reality paired with aerobic exercise in a laboratory setting. In this study, 154 introductory psychology students were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 20-min conditions (a) walking outside around campus, (b) walking on a laboratory treadmill combined with virtual reality to experience both virtual and actual exercise, (c) walking on the laboratory treadmill without virtual reality, and (d) experiencing a virtual walk with virtual reality without actual exercise. Our results suggest that virtual reality may enhance some of the psychological benefits of exercise when paired with actual exercise under certain conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive load of navigating without vision when guided by virtual sound versus spatial language.

A vibrotactile N-back task was used to generate cognitive load while participants were guided along virtual paths without vision. As participants stepped in place, they moved along a virtual path of linear segments. Information was provided en route about the direction of the next turning point, by spatial language ("left," "right," or "straight") or virtual sound (i.e., the perceived azimuth of the sound indicated the target direction). The authors hypothesized that virtual sound, being processed at direct perceptual levels, would have lower load than even simple language commands, which require cognitive mediation. As predicted, whereas the guidance modes did not differ significantly in the no-load condition, participants showed shorter distance traveled and less time to complete a path when performing the N-back task while navigating with virtual sound as guidance. Virtual sound also produced better N-back performance than spatial language. By indicating the superiority of virtual sound for guidance when cognitive load is present, as is characteristic of everyday navigation, these results have implications for guidance systems for the visually impaired and others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A controlled study of virtual reality exposure therapy for the fear of flying.

Fear of flying (FOF) affects an estimated 10–25% of the population. Patients with FOF (N?=?49) were randomly assigned to virtual reality exposure (VRE) therapy, standard exposure (SE) therapy, or a wait-list (WL) control. Treatment consisted of 8 sessions over 6 weeks, with 4 sessions of anxiety management training followed by either exposure to a virtual airplane (VRE) or exposure to an actual airplane at the airport (SE). A posttreatment flight on a commercial airline measured participants' willingness to fly and anxiety during flight immediately after treatment. The results indicated that VRE and SE were both superior to WL, with no differences between VRE and SE. The gains observed in treatment were maintained at a 6-month follow up. By 6 months posttreatment, 93% of VRE participants and 93% of SE participants had flown. VRE therapy and SE therapy for treatment of FOF were unequivocally supported in this controlled study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of age on virtual environment place navigation and allocentric cognitive mapping.

This study assessed age differences in navigational behavior in a virtual Morris water maze (vMWM) and examined the ability of older adults to develop cognitive maps after vMWM experience. Compared with younger participants, older volunteers traversed a longer linear distance to locate the hidden platform. On the probe trial, younger volunteers spent a greater proportion of their total distance traveled in proximity to the platform and had more platform intersections. Analysis of map reproductions demonstrated that older participants used proximal objects to locate the goal but did not use room-geometry cues to aid navigation. These findings demonstrate age-related deficits on a laboratory measure of place learning and suggest that deficiencies in allocentric mapping may contribute to these deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)