Virtual reality and mental health Flashcards
TOPIC 1: virtual reality and its applications
Who developed the first commercial VR system in 1956?
Morton Heilig
Who created the head-mounted display in 1967?
Ivan Sutherland and Bob Sproull
Virtual reality gives a ‘sense of being there’.
The immersive nature of virtual reality environments is unique because it allows for real time experience of emotions.
What are 2 body responses that occur during virtual reality?
stress
increased heart rate
How is VR used in experimental psychology?
Aims to understand human cognitive processes, such as sense of presence, perception or proprioception
How is VR used in neuropsychology?
Aims to assess cognitive functions, such as memory or planning
How is VR used in clinical psychology
Aims to assess and treat mental health disorders
VR has low ecological validity
True or false
FALSE
VR has high ecological validity
Virtual reality has been used as a tool to understand the underlying mechanisms of the what conditions? 10 conditions
- eating disorders
- agoraphobia with or without panic disorder
- phobias
- anxiety disorders
- social anxiety
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- autism
- dementia
- brain injuries
- psychosis
What are some psychological processes that can trigger psychosis? 12
- interpersonal sensitivity
- childhood bullying, victimisation
- physical assault
- perceived ethnic discrimination
- social defeat
- population density and ethnic density
- paranoid ideation
- anomalous experiences
- self-confidence
- self-comparison
- physiological activation
- behavioural response
Virtual reality is used to study what triggers or maintains a psychotic episode
true or false?
TRUE
Treatment of mental health problems using VR. What are 4 benefits?
enables the assessment of symptoms as they occur
typically used as an exposure technique
helps the patient to build up sufficient coping
strategies in a safe environment
enables a tailored intervention with virtual reality assisted therapy
What are 3 limitations of VR?
- small amount of studies available
- more research is needed to ensure VR’s effectiveness when compared with other treatments
- older VR headsets could cause cyber-sickness, leading to participant drop out
How is VR used in PTSD therapy?
aims to help soldiers who have come back from a war zone and that have been exposed to traumatic events to overcome symptoms of PTSD.
How is VR used in PTSD prevention?
aims to expose soldiers to war events that could trigger PTSD before they are deployed to war zones. Soldiers are given strategies that would help them to prevent the development of PTSD when and if exposed to traumatic events.
Virtual reality embedded in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) allows for what?
tailored treatment that meets the needs of the service user exposure of service users to situations and environments in a controlled manner
enables them to try new coping strategies in real time
An exploration and critique of the research evidence and challenges facing VR in mental health
What are the four ‘P’s of VR?
Personalise: Right assessment and treatment for the right person at the right time
Predictive: Help to establish which individual factors play a role in the onset of mental health problems
Preventative: Improve functioning and wellness
Participatory: Interactive and responsive environments
What is Neuropsychology?
A branch of psychology that aims to determine how the structure and the function of the brain relates to specific psychological processes
How can VR help researchers and clinicians? 5 things
Presents high ecological validity by being able to simulate naturalistic environments
Systematically increases ecologically relevant attentional demands
Allows for timing and control over distractions, stimulus load and complexity
Allows for the maintenance of standardised protocols
Potential for diagnostic utility of VR tests in neuropsychological assessment
What is the CANTAB (Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery) ?
a comprehensive system of neuropsychological tests
used worldwide to assess neurocognitive functioning
How does one demonstrate high spatial working memory?
ability to retain spatial information
manipulate the remembered items in working memory
Participants with Schizophrenia displayed worse results in VR, how? 3 things
needed longer time to locate targets
had difficulties in pointing and navigating accurately
had difficulties recalling spatial sequences.
To test executive functioning, what test could be used?
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
