CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 837Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsSocial Robot Interaction and HRINeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Virtual Reality for Enhanced Ecological Validity and Experimental Control in the Clinical, Affective and Social Neurosciences

Open access
Parsons, Thomas D.·2015·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
DOI 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00660PMC PMC4675850
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

An essential tension can be found between researchers interested in ecological validity and those concerned with maintaining experimental control. Research in the human neurosciences often involves the use of simple and static stimuli lacking many of the potentially important aspects of real world activities and interactions. While this research is valuable, there is a growing interest in the human neurosciences to use cues about target states in the real world via multimodal scenarios that involve visual, semantic, and prosodic information. These scenarios should include dynamic stimuli presented concurrently or serially in a manner that allows researchers to assess the integrative processes carried out by perceivers over time. Furthermore, there is growing interest in contextually embedded stimuli that can constrain participant interpretations of cues about a target's internal states. Virtual reality environments proffer assessment paradigms that combine the experimental control of laboratory measures with emotionally engaging background narratives to enhance affective experience and social interactions. The present review highlights the potential of virtual reality environments for enhanced ecological validity in the clinical, affective, and social neurosciences.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00660

Cites

37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • VR is considered to have ecological validity for therapeutic purposes.

    “VR is considered to have ecological validity for therapeutic purposes (Parsons, 2015) and can induce presence, the psychological sensation of being present in a virtual environment, which arises from a coherent association between users' perceptual responses to the narrative and immersion (Slater, 2003; Riva et al., 2003).”

    From iSenseVR: bringing VR exposure therapy outside the laboratory (2019) · cites this paper as Parsons, 2015

    The ‘Virtual Reality for Enhanced Ecological Validity and Experimental Control’ section describes virtual environments as ecologically valid platforms for clinical assessment. The Summary and Discussion likewise discusses assessment in simulations of real-world contexts. These passages support ecological validity in clinical use, but do not establish it for therapeutic treatment. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Acceptance and perceived realism are important conditions for VR to be a legitimate therapeutic support; if participants do not view the scenarios as credible or engaging, the ecological validity of the exposure is lessened and therapeutic gain could be reduced.

    “Acceptance and perceived realism are important conditions for VR to be a legitimate therapeutic support: if participants don ' t view the scenarios they are simulating as credible or engaging, then the ecological validity of the exposure is lessened, and therapeutic gain could be reduced (Parsons, 2015).”

    From Speaking face-to-face with a virtual avatar to reduce anxiety in students who stutter: Tool development and pilot study results. (2026) · cites this paper as Parsons, 2015

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • VR can generate physical, cognitive, and affective responses that may closely resemble real-world scenarios.

    “VR can generate physical, cognitive, and affective responses that may closely resemble real-world scenarios (Bell et al., 2020; Li et al., 2022; Parsons, 2015; Sch ¨ one et al., 2023).”

    From Speaking face-to-face with a virtual avatar to reduce anxiety in students who stutter: Tool development and pilot study results. (2026) · cites this paper as Parsons, 2015

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 152

  1. Adams R. Finn P. Moes E. Flannery K. Rizzo A. S. (2009). Distractibility in attention/deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): the virtual reality classroom. Child Neuropsychol. 15, 120– 135. 10.1080/09297040802169077 18608217 · DOI
  2. Adolphs R. (2010). Conceptual challenges and directions for social neuroscience. Neuron 65, 752– 767. 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.006 20346753 PMC2887730 · DOI
  3. Alvarez R. P. Biggs A. Chen G. Pine D. S. Grillon C. (2008). Contextual fear conditioning in humans: cortical-hippocampal and amygdala contributions. J. Neurosci. 28, 6211– 6219. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1246-08.2008 18550763 PMC2475649 · DOI · Paper page
  4. Alvarez R. P. Johnson L. Grillon C. (2007). Contextual-specificity of short-delay extinction in humans: renewal of fear-potentiated startle in a virtual environment. Learn. Mem. 14, 247– 253. 10.1101/lm.493707 17412963 PMC2216529 · DOI · Paper page
  5. Armstrong C. Reger G. Edwards J. Rizzo A. Courtney C. Parsons T. D. (2013). Validity of the virtual reality stroop task (VRST) in active duty military. J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 35, 113– 123. 10.1080/13803395.2012.740002 23157431 · DOI
  6. Asimakopulos J. Boychuck Z. Sondergaard D. Poulin V. Ménard I. Korner-Bitensky N. (2012). Assessing executive function in relation to fitness to drive: a review of tools and their ability to predict safe driving. Aust. Occup. Ther. J. 59, 402– 427. 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2011.00963.x 23174109 · DOI
  7. Baas J. M. P. van Ooijen L. Goudriaan A. Kenemans J. L. (2008). Failure to condition to a cue is associated with sustained contextual fear. Acta Psychol. (Amst) 127, 581– 592. 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.09.009 18048004 · DOI
  8. Baddeley A. (1981). The cognitive psychology of everyday life. Br. J. Psychol. 72, 257– 269. 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1981.tb02184.x · DOI
  9. Baddeley A. (2012). “ How does emotion influence working memory?” in Attention, Representation, and Human Performance: Integration of Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation, eds di Masmou S. Dai D. Y. Naceur A. (New York, NY: Psychology Press), 3– 18.
  10. Banaji M. R. Crowder R. G. (1989). The bankruptcy of everyday memory. Am. Psychol. 44, 1185– 1193. 10.1037/0003-066x.44.9.1185 · DOI
  11. Bayless J. D. Varney N. R. Roberts R. J. (1989). Tinker toy test performance and vocational outcome in patients with closed-head injuries. J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 11, 913– 917. 10.1080/01688638908400944 2592530 · DOI
  12. Becchio C. Sartori L. Castiello U. (2010). Toward you: the social side of actions. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 19, 183– 188. 10.1177/0963721410370131 · DOI
  13. Bechara A. Damasio A. R. (2005). The somatic marker hypothesis: a neural theory of economic decision. Games Econ. Behav. 52, 336– 372. 10.1016/j.geb.2004.06.010 · DOI · Paper page
  14. Bechara A. Damasio H. Tranel D. Anderson S. W. (1998). Dissociation of working memory from decision making within the human prefrontal cortex. J. Neurosci. 18, 428– 437. 9412519 PMC6793407
  15. Bechara A. Damasio H. Tranel D. Damasio A. R. (1997). Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science 275, 1293– 1295. 10.1126/science.275.5304.1293 9036851 · DOI · Paper page
  16. Bechara A. Tranel D. Damasio H. (2000). Characterization of the decision-making deficit of patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions. Brain 123, 2189– 2202. 10.1093/brain/123.11.2189 11050020 · DOI
  17. Bechara A. Tranel D. Damasio H. Damasio A. R. (1996). Failure to respond autonomically to anticipated future outcomes following damage to prefrontal cortex. Cereb. Cortex 6, 215– 225. 10.1093/cercor/6.2.215 8670652 · DOI · Paper page
  18. Berthoz S. Armony J. L. Blair R. J. R. Dolan R. J. (2002). An fMRI study of intentional and unintentional (embarrassing) violations of social norms. Brain 125, 1696– 1708. 10.1093/brain/awf190 12135962 · DOI
  19. Betella A. Zucca R. Cetnarski R. Greco A. Lanatà A. Mazzei D.. (2014). Inference of human affective states from psychophysiological measurements extracted under ecologically valid conditions. Front. Neurosci. 8: 286. 10.3389/fnins.2014.00286 25309310 PMC4173664 · DOI
  20. Bioulac S. Lallemand S. Rizzo A. Philip P. Fabrigoule C. Bouvard M. P. (2012). Impact of time on task on ADHD patient’s performances in a virtual classroom. Eur. J. Paediatr. Neurol. 16, 514– 521. 10.1016/j.ejpn.2012.01.006 22269913 · DOI · Paper page
  21. Blair R. J. Morris J. S. Frith C. D. Perrett D. I. Dolan R. J. (1999). Dissociable neural responses to facial expressions of sadness and anger. Brain 122, 883– 893. 10.1093/brain/122.5.883 10355673 · DOI · Paper page
  22. Bottari C. Dassa C. Rainville C. Dutil E. (2009). The criterion-related validity of the IADL Profile with measures of executive functions, indices of trauma severity and sociodemographic characteristics. Brain Inj. 23, 322– 335. 10.1080/02699050902788436 19277921 · DOI
  23. Brock L. L. Rimm-Kaufman S. E. Nathanson L. Grimm K. J. (2009). The contributions of “hot” and “cool” executive function to children’s academic achievement, learning-related behaviors and engagement in kindergarten. Early Child. Res. Q. 24, 337– 349. 10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.06.001 · DOI
  24. Buelow M. T. Suhr J. A. (2009). Construct validity of the iowa gambling task. Neuropsychol. Rev. 19, 102– 114. 10.1007/s11065-009-9083-4 19194801 · DOI · Paper page
  25. Buxbaum L. Dawson A. Linsley D. (2012). Reliability and validity of the virtual reality lateralized attention test in assessing hemispatial neglect in right-hemisphere stroke. Neuropsychology 26, 430– 441. 10.1037/a0028674 22642393 · DOI
  26. Bzdok D. Schilbach L. Vogeley K. Schneider K. Laird A. R. Langner R.. (2012). Parsing the neural correlates of moral cognition: ALE meta-analysis on morality, theory of mind and empathy. Brain Struct. Funct. 217, 783– 796. 10.1007/s00429-012-0380-y 22270812 PMC3445793 · DOI · Paper page
  27. Calhoun V. D. Pearlson G. D. (2012). A selective review of simulated driving studies: combining naturalistic and hybrid paradigms, analysis approaches and future directions. Neuroimage 59, 25– 35. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.06.037 21718791 PMC3197797 · DOI
  28. Campbell Z. Zakzanis K. K. Jovanovski D. Joordens S. Mraz R. Graham S. J. (2009). Utilizing virtual reality to improve the ecological validity of clinical neuropsychology: an FMRI case study elucidating the neural basis of planning by comparing the Tower of London with a three-dimensional navigation task. Appl. Neuropsychol. 16, 295– 306. 10.1080/09084280903297891 20183185 · DOI
  29. Cao X. Douguet A. S. Fuchs P. Klinger E. (2010). Designing an ecological virtual task in the context of executive functions: a preliminary study. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies 31, 71– 78.
  30. Carter E. J. Pelphrey K. A. (2008). Friend or foe? Brain systems involved in the perception of dynamic signals of menacing and friendly social approaches. Soc. Neurosci. 3, 151– 163. 10.1080/17470910801903431 18633856 · DOI
  31. Chakrabarti B. (2013). Parameterising ecological validity and integrating individual differences within second-person neuroscience. Behav. Brain Sci. 36, 414– 415. 10.1017/s0140525x12002099 23883743 · DOI
  32. Chelune G. J. Moehle K. A. (1986). “ Neuropsychological assessment and everyday functioning,” in The neuropsychology handbook, eds Wedding D. Horton A. M. Webster J. (New York, NY: Springer), 489– 525.
  33. Ciaramelli E. Muccioli M. Làdavas E. di Pellegrino G. (2007). Selective deficit in personal moral judgment following damage to ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 2, 84– 92. 10.1093/scan/nsm001 18985127 PMC2555449 · DOI · Paper page
  34. Clancy T. A. Rucklidge J. J. Owen D. (2010). Road-crossing safety in virtual reality: a comparison of adolescents with and without ADHD. J. Clin. Child Adolesc. Psychol. 35, 203– 215. 10.1207/s15374424jccp3502_4 16597216 · DOI
  35. Conway M. A. (1991). In defense of everyday memory. Am. Psychol. 46, 19– 26. 10.1037/0003-066x.46.1.19 · DOI
  36. Cook L. Hanten G. Orsten K. Chapman S. Li X. Wilde E.. (2013). Effects of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury on anticipating consequences of actions in adults: a preliminary study. J. Int. Neuropsychol. Soc. 19, 508– 517. 10.1017/s1355617712001452 23312035 · DOI
  37. Courtney C. Dawson M. Rizzo A. Arizmendi B. Parsons T. D. (2013). Predicting navigation performance with psychophysiological responses to threat in a virtual environment. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 8021, 129– 138. 10.1007/978-3-642-39405-8_16 · DOI
  38. Cromwell H. C. Panksepp J. (2011). Rethinking the cognitive revolution from a neural perspective: how overuse/misuse of the term ‘cognition’and the neglect of affective controls in behavioral neuroscience could be delaying progress in understanding the BrainMind. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 35, 2026– 2035. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.02.008 21345347 · DOI
  39. Dawson D. R. Anderson N. D. Burgess P. Cooper E. Krpan K. M. Stuss D. T. (2009). Further development of the Multiple Errands Test: standardized scoring, reliability and ecological validity for the baycrest version. Arch. Phys. Med. Rehabil. 90, S41– S51. 10.1016/j.apmr.2009.07.012 19892074 · DOI
  40. de Wall C. Wilson B. A. Baddeley A. D. (1994). The extended rivermead behavioral memory test: a measure of everyday memory performance in normal adults. Memory 2, 149– 166. 10.1080/09658219408258942 7584289 · DOI
  41. Diemer J. E. Alpers G. W. Peperkorn H. M. Shiban Y. Mühlberger A. (2015). The impact of perception and presence on emotional reactions: a review of research in virtual reality. Front. Psychol. 6: 26. 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00026 25688218 PMC4311610 · DOI
  42. Dotsch R. Wigboldus D. H. J. (2008). Virtual prejudice. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 44, 1194– 1198. 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.03.003 · DOI
  43. Dunn E. J. Searight H. R. Grisso T. Margolis R. B. Gibbons J. L. (1990). The relation of the halstead-reitan neuropsychological battery to functional daily living skills in geriatric patients. Arch. Clin. Neuropsychol. 5, 103– 117. 10.1016/0887-6177(90)90032-k 14592005 · DOI
  44. Eisenberger N. I. (2012). The neural bases of social pain: evidence for shared representations with physical pain. Psychosom. Med. 74, 126– 135. 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3182464dd1 22286852 PMC3273616 · DOI · Paper page
  45. Eisenberger N. I. (2015). Meta-analytic evidence for the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in social pain. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 10, 1– 2. 10.1093/scan/nsu120 25210052 PMC4994854 · DOI
  46. Elkind J. S. Rubin E. Rosenthal S. Skoff B. Prather P. (2001). A simulated reality scenario compared with the computerized wisconsin card sorting test: an analysis of preliminary results. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 4, 489– 496. 10.1089/109493101750527042 11708728 · DOI
  47. Ernst M. Bolla K. Mouratidis M. Contoreggi C. Matochik J. A. Kurian V.. (2002). Decision-making in a risk-taking task: a PET study. Neuropsychopharmacology 26, 682– 691. 10.1016/s0893-133x(01)00414-6 11927193 · DOI
  48. Faur C. Clavel C. Pesty S. Martin J.-C. (2013). “ PERSEED: a self-based model of personality for virtual agents inspired by socio-cognitive theories,” in Human Association Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, (Geneva: IEEE), 467– 472.
  49. Franzen M. D. Wilhelm K. L. (1996). “ Conceptual foundations of ecological validity in neuropsychological assessment,” in Ecological Validity of Neuropsychological Testing, eds Sbordone R. J. Long C. J. (Boca Raton, FL: St Lucie Press), 91– 112.
  50. Freeman D. Pugh K. Antley A. Slater M. Bebbington P. Gittins M.. (2008). Virtual reality study of paranoid thinking in the general population. Br. J. Psychiatry 192, 258– 263. 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.044677 18378984 · DOI
  51. Glotzbach E. Ewald H. Andreatta M. Pauli P. Mühlberger A. (2012). Contextual fear conditioning predicts subsequent avoidance behavior in a virtual reality environment. Cogn. Emot. 26, 1256– 1272. 10.1080/02699931.2012.656581 22551520 · DOI
  52. Glotzbach-Schoon E. Andreatta M. Reif A. Ewald H. Tröger C. Baumann C.. (2013). Contextual fear conditioning in virtual reality is affected by 5HTTLPR and NPSR1 polymorphisms: effects on fear-potentiated startle. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 7: 31. 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00031 23630477 PMC3632789 · DOI
  53. Goel V. Dolan R. J. (2003). Reciprocal neural response within lateral and ventral medial prefrontal cortex during hot and cold reasoning. Neuroimage 20, 2314– 2321. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.07.027 14683732 · DOI
  54. Goldstein G. (1996). “ Functional considerations in neuropsychology,” in Ecological Validity of Neuropsychological Testing, eds Sbordone R. J. Long C. J. (Delray Beach, FL: GR Press/St. Lucie Press), 75– 89.
  55. Gorini A. Capideville C. S. DeLeo G. Mantovani F. Riva G. (2011). The role of immersion and narrative in mediated presence: the virtual hospital experience. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 14, 99– 105. 10.1089/cyber.2010.0100 20649451 · DOI
  56. Greene J. D. Morelli S. A. Lowenberg K. Nystrom L. E. Cohen J. D. (2008). Cognitive load selectively interferes with utilitarian moral judgment. Cognition 107, 1144– 1154. 10.1016/j.cognition.2007.11.004 18158145 PMC2429958 · DOI · Paper page
  57. Greene J. D. Nystrom L. E. Engell A. D. Darley J. M. Cohen J. D. (2004). The neural bases of cognitive conflict and control in moral judgment. Neuron 44, 389– 400. 10.1016/j.neuron.2004.09.027 15473975 · DOI · Paper page
  58. Greene J. D. Sommerville R. B. Nystrom L. E. Darley J. M. Cohen J. D. (2001). An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgment. Science 293, 2105– 2108. 10.1126/science.1062872 11557895 · DOI · Paper page
  59. Gunther Moor B. Crone E. A. van der Molen M. W. (2010). The heartbrake of social rejection heart rate deceleration in response to unexpected peer rejection. Psychol. Sci. 21, 1326– 1333. 10.1177/0956797610379236 20696852 · DOI · Paper page
  60. Hari R. Kujala M. V. (2009). Brain basis of human social interaction: from concepts to brain imaging. Physiol. Rev. 89, 453– 479. 10.1152/physrev.00041.2007 19342612 · DOI · Paper page
  61. Henry M. Joyal C. C. Nolin P. (2012). Development and initial assessment of a new paradigm for assessing cognitive and motor inhibition: the bimodal virtual-reality Stroop. J. Neurosci. Methods 210, 125– 131. 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2012.07.025 22897988 · DOI
  62. Hinson J. M. Jameson T. L. Whitney P. (2002). Somatic markers, working memory and decision making. Cogn. Affect. Behav. Neurosci. 2, 341– 353. 10.3758/cabn.2.4.341 12641178 · DOI
  63. Hinson J. M. Jameson T. L. Whitney P. (2003). Impulsive decision making and working memory. J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn. 29, 298– 306. 10.1037/0278-7393.29.2.298 12696817 · DOI · Paper page
  64. Iacoboni M. Lieberman M. D. Knowlton B. J. Molnar-Szakacs I. Moritz M. Throop C. J.. (2004). Watching social interactions produces dorsomedial prefrontal and medial parietal BOLD fMRI signal increases compared to a resting baseline. Neuroimage 21, 1167– 1173. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.11.013 15006683 · DOI · Paper page
  65. Iriarte Y. Diaz-Orueta U. Cueto E. Irazustabarrena P. Banterla F. Climent G. (2012). AULA-advanced virtual reality tool for the assessment of attention: normative study in Spain. J. Atten. Disord. [Epub ahead of print]. 10.1177/1087054712465335 23239784 · DOI
  66. Jansari A. S. Froggatt D. Edginton T. Dawkins L. (2013). Investigating the impact of nicotine on executive functions using a novel virtual reality assessment. Addiction 108, 977– 984. 10.1111/add.12082 23216905 · DOI
  67. Jovanovski D. Zakzanis K. Campbell Z. Erb S. Nussbaum D. (2012a). Development of a novel, ecologically oriented virtual reality measure of executive function: the multitasking in the city test. Appl. Neuropsychol. Adult 19, 171– 182. 10.1080/09084282.2011.643955 23373603 · DOI
  68. Jovanovski D. Zakzanis K. Ruttan L. Campbell Z. Erb S. Nussbaum D. (2012b). Ecologically valid assessment of executive dysfunction using a novel virtual reality task in patients with acquired brain injury. Appl. Neuropsychol. Adult 19, 207– 220. 10.1080/09084282.2011.643956 23373607 · DOI
  69. Kallinen K. Salminen M. Ravaja N. Kedzior R. Sääksjärvi M. (2007). “ Presence and emotion in computer game players during 1st person vs. 3rd person playing view: evidence from self-report, eye-tracking and facial muscle activity data,” in Proceedings of the PRESENCE, (Barcelona), 187– 190. 187– 190.
  70. Kassner M. P. Wesselmann E. D. Law A. T. Williams K. D. (2012). Virtually ostracized: studying ostracism in immersive virtual environments. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 15, 399– 403. 10.1089/cyber.2012.0113 22897472 PMC3422048 · DOI
  71. Kennedy R. S. Stanney K. M. Dunlap W. P. (2000). Duration and exposure to virtual environments: sickness curves during and across sessions. Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ. 9, 463– 472. 10.1162/105474600566952 · DOI · Paper page
  72. Kerr A. Zelazo P. D. (2004). Development of hot executive function: the children’s gambling task. Brain Cogn. 55, 148– 157. 10.1016/s0278-2626(03)00275-6 15134849 · DOI
  73. Keshavarz B. Hecht H. (2011). Validating an efficient method to quantify motion sickness. Hum. Factors 53, 415– 426. 10.1177/0018720811403736 21901938 · DOI
  74. Knight C. Alderman N. Burgess P. W. (2002). Development of a simplified version of the multiple errands test for use in hospital settings. Neuropsychol. Rehabil. 12, 231– 255. 10.1080/09602010244000039 · DOI · Paper page
  75. Koenigs M. Young L. Adolphs R. Tranel D. Cushman F. A. Hauser M. D.. (2007). Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgments. Nature 446, 908– 911. 10.1038/nature05631 17377536 PMC2244801 · DOI · Paper page
  76. Kohler C. G. Walker J. B. Martin E. A. Healey K. M. Moberg P. J. (2010). Facial emotion perception in schizophrenia: a meta-analytic review. Schizophr. Bull. 36, 1009– 1019. 10.1093/schbul/sbn192 19329561 PMC2930336 · DOI
  77. Kokal I. Gazzola V. Keysers C. (2009). Acting together in and beyond the mirror neuron system. Neuroimage 47, 2046– 2056. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.06.010 19524043 · DOI
  78. Lalonde G. Henry M. Drouin-Germain A. Nolin P. Beauchamp M. H. (2013). Assessment of executive function in adolescence: a comparison of traditional and virtual reality tools. J. Neurosci. Methods 219, 76– 82. 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2013.07.005 23867080 · DOI
  79. Lamberts K. Evans J. Spikman J. (2009). A real-life, ecologically valid test of executive functioning: the executive secretarial task. J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 32, 56– 65. 10.1080/13803390902806550 19408184 · DOI
  80. Lieberman M. D. Eisenberger N. I. (2009). Neuroscience. Pains and pleasures of social life. Science 323, 890– 891. 10.1126/science.1170008 19213907 · DOI
  81. Logie R. H. Trawley S. Law A. (2011). Multitasking: multiple, domain-specific cognitive functions in a virtual environment. Mem. Cognit. 39, 1561– 1574. 10.3758/s13421-011-0120-1 21691876 · DOI
  82. Lysaker P. Bell M. Bean-Goulet J. (1995). Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and work performance in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res. 56, 45– 51. 10.1016/0165-1781(94)02641-u 7792341 · DOI
  83. Macedonio M. Parsons T. D. DiGiuseppe R. A. Weiderhold B. K. Rizzo A. A. (2007). Immersiveness and physiological arousal within panoramic video-based virtual reality. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 10, 508– 516. 10.1089/cpb.2007.9997 17711358 · DOI
  84. Maister L. Slater M. Sanchez-Vives M. V. Tsakiris M. (2015). Changing bodies changes minds: owning another body affects social cognition. Trends Cogn. Sci. 19, 6– 12. 10.1016/j.tics.2014.11.001 25524273 · DOI · Paper page
  85. Manchester D. Priestley N. Howard J. (2004). The assessment of executive functions: coming out of the office. Brain Inj. 18, 1067– 1081. 10.1080/02699050410001672387 15545205 · DOI · Paper page
  86. Marcotte T. D. Grant I. eds. (2009). Neuropsychology of Everyday Functioning. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  87. Masmoudi S. Dai D. Y. Naceur A. (2012). Attention, Representation and Human Performance: Integration of Cognition, Emotion and Motivation. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
  88. Matheis R. J. Schultheis M. T. Tiersky L. A. DeLuca J. Millis S. R. Rizzo A. (2007). Is learning and memory different in a virtual environment? Clin. Neuropsychol. 21, 146– 161. 10.1080/13854040601100668 17366282 · DOI
  89. McGeorge P. Phillips L. H. Crawford J. R. Garden S. E. Sala S. D. Milne A. B. (2001). Using virtual environments in the assessment of executive dysfunction. Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ. 10, 375– 383. 10.1162/1054746011470235 · DOI
  90. Milner B. (1963). Effects of different brain lesions on card sorting: the role of the frontal lobes. Arch. Nurol. 9, 90– 100. 10.1001/archneur.1963.00460070100010 · DOI · Paper page
  91. Montague P. R. Berns G. S. Cohen J. D. McClure S. M. Pagnoni G. Dhamala M.. (2002). Hyperscanning: simultaneous fMRI during linked social interactions. Neuroimage 16, 1159– 1164. 10.1006/nimg.2002.1150 12202103 · DOI · Paper page
  92. Montgomery C. Ashmore K. Jansari A. (2011). The effects of a modest dose of alcohol on executive functioning and prospective memory. Hum. Psychopharmacol. 26, 208– 215. 10.1002/hup.1194 21542026 · DOI
  93. Morris R. G. Kotitsa M. Bramham J. Brooks B. M. Rose F. D. (2002). “ Virtual reality investigation of strategy formation, rule breaking and prospective memory in patients with focal prefrontal neurosurgical lesions,” in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies, Veszprém.
  94. Mühlberger A. Bülthoff H. Wiedemann G. Pauli P. (2007). Virtual reality for the psychophysiological assessment of phobic fear: responses during virtual tunnel driving. Psychol. Assess. 19, 340– 346. 10.1037/1040-3590.19.3.340 17845125 · DOI
  95. Mühlberger A. Wieser M. J. Pauli P. (2008). Darkness-enhanced startle responses in ecologically valid environments: a virtual tunnel driving experiment. Biol. Psychol. 77, 47– 52. 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.09.004 17950519 · DOI
  96. Navarrete C. D. McDonald M. M. Mott M. L. Asher B. (2012). Virtual morality: emotion and action in a simulated three-dimensional “trolley problem”. Emotion 12, 364– 370. 10.1037/a0025561 22103331 · DOI
  97. Neisser U. (1980). On “social knowing”. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 6, 601– 605. 10.1177/014616728064012 · DOI
  98. Newman-Norlund R. D. Bosga J. Meulenbroek R. G. Bekkering H. (2008). Anatomical substrates of cooperative joint-action in a continuous motor task: virtual lifting and balancing. Neuroimage 41, 169– 177. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.02.026 18378467 · DOI
  99. Nigg J. T. (2003). Response inhibition and disruptive behaviors. Ann. N Y Acad. Sci. 1008, 170– 182. 10.1196/annals.1301.018 14998883 · DOI
  100. Normand J. M. Giannopoulos E. Spanlang B. Slater M. (2011). Multisensory stimulation can induce an illusion of larger belly size in immersive virtual reality. PLoS One 6: e16128. 10.1371/journal.pone.0016128 21283823 PMC3023777 · DOI · Paper page
  101. Nyhus E. Barceló F. (2009). The Wisconsin card sorting test and the cognitive assessment of prefrontal executive functions: a critical update. Brain Cogn. 71, 437– 451. 10.1016/j.bandc.2009.03.005 19375839 · DOI
  102. Ord J. S. Greve K. W. Bianchini K. J. Aguerrevere L. E. (2010). Executive dysfunction in traumatic brain injury: the effects of injury severity and effort on the Wisconsin card sorting test. J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 32, 132– 140. 10.1080/13803390902858874 19484646 · DOI
  103. Panksepp J. (2007). “ Affective consciousness,” in The blackwell Companion to Consciousness, eds Velmans M. Schneider S. (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell), 114– 129.
  104. Panksepp J. (2009). Primary process affects and brain oxytocin. Biol. Psychiatry 65, 725– 727. 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.02.004 19348835 · DOI
  105. Panksepp J. (2010). Affective neuroscience of the emotional brainmind: evolutionary perspectives and implications for understanding depression. Dialogues Clin. Neurosci. 12, 533– 545. 21319497 PMC3181986
  106. Pan X. Slater M. (2011). “ Confronting a moral dilemma in virtual reality: a pilot study,” in Proceedings of the 25th BCS Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, (Swinton: British Computer Society), 46– 51
  107. Parsey C. M. Schmitter-Edgecombe M. (2013). Applications of technology in neuropsychological assessment. Clin. Neuropsychol. 27, 1328– 1361. 10.1080/13854046.2013.834971 24041037 PMC3869883 · DOI
  108. Parsons T. D. Courtney C. (2014). An initial validation of the virtual reality paced auditory serial addition test in a college sample. J. Neurosci. Methods 222, 15– 23. 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2013.10.006 24184058 · DOI
  109. Parsons T. D. Courtney C. Dawson M. (2013). Virtual reality stroop task for assessment of supervisory attentional processing. J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 35, 812– 826. 10.1080/13803395.2013.824556 23961959 · DOI
  110. Parsons T. D. Courtney C. Rizzo A. A. Armstrong C. Edwards J. Reger G. (2012). Virtual reality paced serial assessment tests for neuropsychological assessment of a military cohort. Stud. Health Technol. Inform. 173, 331– 337. 22357013
  111. Patil I. Cogoni C. Zangrando N. Chittaro L. Silani G. (2014). Affective basis of judgment-behavior discrepancy in virtual experiences of moral dilemmas. Soc. Neurosci. 9, 94– 107. 10.1080/17470919.2013.870091 24359489 · DOI
  112. Peck T. C. Seinfeld S. Aglioti S. M. Slater M. (2013). Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar reduces implicit racial bias. Conscious. Cogn. 22, 779– 787. 10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.016 23727712 · DOI · Paper page
  113. Pelphrey K. A. Singerman J. D. Allison T. McCarthy G. (2003). Brain activation evoked by perception of gaze shifts: the influence of context. Neuropsychologia 41, 156– 170. 10.1016/s0028-3932(03)00111-8 12459214 · DOI
  114. Pelphrey K. A. Viola R. J. McCarthy G. (2004). When strangers pass: processing of mutual and averted social gaze in the superior temporal sulcus. Psychol. Sci. 15, 598– 603. 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00726.x 15327630 · DOI · Paper page
  115. Pfeiffer U. J. Vogeley K. Schilbach L. (2013). From gaze cueing to dual eye-tracking: novel approaches to investigate the neural correlates of gaze in social interaction. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 37, 2516– 2528. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.07.017 23928088 · DOI
  116. Pollak Y. Shomaly H. B. Weiss P. L. Rizzo A. A. Gross-Tsur V. (2010). Methylphenidate effect in children with ADHD can be measured by an ecologically valid continuous performance test embedded in virtual reality. CNS Spectr. 15, 125– 130. 20414157
  117. Potenza M. de Wit H. (2010). Control yourself: alcohol and impulsivity. Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. 34, 1303– 1305. 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01214.x 20491735 PMC3822522 · DOI
  118. Preston C. Ehrsson H. H. (2014). Illusory changes in body size modulate body satisfaction in a way that is related to non-clinical eating disorder psychopathology. PLoS One 9: e85773. 10.1371/journal.pone.0085773 24465698 PMC3897512 · DOI
  119. Pugnetti L. Mendozzi L. Attree E. A. Barbieri E. Brooks B. M. Cazzullo C. L. (1998). Probing memory and executive functions with virtual reality: past and present studies. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 1, 151– 161. 10.1089/cpb.1998.1.151 · DOI
  120. Pugnetti L. Mendozzi L. Motta A. Cattaneo A. Barbieri E. Brancotti S. (1995). Evaluation and retraining of adults’ cognitive impairments: which role for virtual reality technology? Comput. Biol. Med. 25, 213– 227. 10.1016/0010-4825(94)00040-w 7554839 · DOI
  121. Rabin L. A. Burton L. A. Barr W. B. (2007). Utilization rates of ecologically oriented instruments among clinical neuropsychologists. Clin. Neuropsychol. 5, 727– 743. 10.1080/13854040600888776 17676540 · DOI
  122. Rand D. Basha-Abu Rukan S. Weiss P. L. Katz N. (2009). Validation of the Virtual MET as an assessment tool for executive functions. Neuropsychol. Rehabil. 19, 583– 602. 10.1080/09602010802469074 19058093 · DOI
  123. Rebelo F. Noriega P. Duarte E. Soares M. (2012). Using virtual reality to assess user experience. Hum. Factors 54, 964– 982. 10.1177/0018720812465006 23397807 · DOI
  124. Renison B. Ponsford J. Testa R. Richardson B. Brownfield K. (2012). The ecological and construct validity of a newly developed measure of executive function: the virtual library task. J. Int. Neuropsychol. Soc. 18, 440– 450. 10.1017/s1355617711001883 22339816 · DOI
  125. Risko E. F. Laidlaw K. E. Freeth M. Foulsham T. Kingstone A. (2012). Social attention with real versus reel stimuli: toward an empirical approach to concerns about ecological validity. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 6: 143. 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00143 22654747 PMC3360477 · DOI
  126. Roy S. Klinger E. Légeron P. Lauer F. Chemin I. Nugues P. (2003). Definition of a VR-based protocol to treat social phobia. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 6, 411– 420. 10.1089/109493103322278808 14511454 · DOI
  127. Sbordone R. J. Long C. eds. (1996). Ecological Validity of Neuropsychological Testing. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
  128. Schilbach L. (2015). Eye to eye, face to face and brain to brain: novel approaches to study the behavioral dynamics and neural mechanisms of social interactions. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 3, 130– 135. 10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.03.006 · DOI
  129. Schilbach L. Eickhoff S. B. Rotarska-Jagiela A. Fink G. R. Vogeley K. (2008). Minds at rest? Social cognition as the default mode of cognizing and its putative relationship to the “default system” of the brain. Conscious. Cogn. 17, 457– 467. 10.1016/j.concog.2008.03.013 18434197 · DOI · Paper page
  130. Schilbach L. Timmermans B. Reddy V. Costall A. Bente G. Schlicht T.. (2013). Toward a second-person neuroscience. Behav. Brain Sci. 36, 393– 414. 10.1017/S0140525X12000660 23883742 · DOI · Paper page
  131. Schilbach L. Wilms M. Eickhoff S. B. Romanzetti S. Tepest R. Bente G. B.. (2010). Minds made for sharing. Initiating joint attention recruits reward-related neurocircuitry. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 22, 2702– 2715. 10.1162/jocn.2009.21401 19929761 · DOI · Paper page
  132. Schilbach L. Wohlschläger A. M. Newen A. Krämer N. Shah N. J. Fink G. R.. (2006). Being with others: neural correlates of social interaction. Neuropsychologia 44, 718– 730. 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.07.017 16171833 · DOI
  133. Schultheis M. T. Rebimbas J. Mourant R. Millis S. R. (2007). Examining the usability of a virtual reality driving simulator. Assist. Technol. 19, 1– 8. 10.1080/10400435.2007.10131860 17461285 · DOI
  134. Sebanz N. Bekkering H. Knoblich G. (2006). Joint action: bodies and minds moving together. Trends Cogn. Sci. 10, 70– 76. 10.1016/j.tics.2005.12.009 16406326 · DOI · Paper page
  135. Sijtsema J. J. Shoulberg E. K. Murray-Close D. (2011). Physiological reactivity and different forms of aggression in girls: moderating roles of rejection sensitivity and peer rejection. Biol. Psychol. 86, 181– 192. 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.11.007 21129435 · DOI
  136. Skulmowski A. Bunge A. Kaspar K. Pipa G. (2014). Forced-choice decision-making in modified trolley dilemma situations: a virtual reality and eye tracking study. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 8: 426. 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00426 25565997 PMC4267265 · DOI
  137. Slater M. Sanchez-Vives M. V. (2014). Transcending the self in immersive virtual reality. Computer 47, 24– 30. 10.1109/mc.2014.198 · DOI · Paper page
  138. Spooner D. M. Pachana N. A. (2006). Ecological validity in neuropsychological assessment: a case for greater consideration in research with neurologically intact populations. Arch. Clin. Neuropsychol. 21, 327– 337. 10.1016/j.acn.2006.04.004 16769198 · DOI · Paper page
  139. Stuss D. T. Benson D. F. Kaplan E. F. Weir W. S. Naeser M. A. Lieberman I. (1983). The involvement of orbitofrontal cerebrum in cognitive tasks. Neuropsychologia 21, 235– 248. 10.1016/0028-3932(83)90040-4 6877577 · DOI
  140. Sweeney S. Kersel D. Morris R. G. Manly T. Evans J. J. (2010). The sensitivity of a virtual reality task to planning and prospective memory impairments: group differences and the efficacy of periodic alerts on performance. Neuropsychol. Rehabil. 20, 239– 263. 10.1080/09602010903080531 19742380 · DOI
  141. Tanabek H. C. Kosaka H. Saito D. N. Koike T. Hayashi M. J. Izuma K.. (2012). Hard to “tune in”: neural mechanisms of live face-to-face interaction with high-functioning autistic spectrum disorder. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 6: 268. 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00268 23060772 PMC3459004 · DOI
  142. Thomson J. J. (1985). The trolley problem. Yale Law J. 94, 1395– 1415. 10.2307/796133 · DOI
  143. Walter H. Adenzato M. Ciaramidaro A. Enrici I. Pia L. Bara B. G. (2004). Understanding intentions in social interaction: the role of the anterior paracingulate cortex. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 16, 1854– 1863. 10.1162/0898929042947838 15701234 · DOI · Paper page
  144. Wesselmann E. D. Wirth J. H. Mroczek D. K. Williams K. D. (2012). Dial a feeling: detecting moderation of affect decline during ostracism. Pers. Individ. Dif. 53, 580– 586. 10.1016/j.paid.2012.04.039 23585705 PMC3622258 · DOI · Paper page
  145. Wilms M. Schilbach L. Pfeiffer U. Bente G. Fink G. R. Vogeley K. (2010). It’s in your eyes-using gaze-contingent stimuli to create truly interactive paradigms for social cognitive and affective neuroscience. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 5, 98– 107. 10.1093/scan/nsq024 20223797 PMC2840847 · DOI
  146. Wilson B. A. (1993). Ecological validity of neuropsychological assessment: do neuropsychological indexes predict performance in everyday activities? Appl. Prev. Psychol. 2, 209– 215. 10.1016/s0962-1849(05)80091-5 · DOI
  147. Windmann S. Kirsch P. Mier D. Stark R. Walter B. Güntürkün O.. (2006). On framing effects in decision making: linking lateral versus medial orbitofrontal cortex activation to choice outcome processing. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 18, 1198– 1211. 10.1162/jocn.2006.18.7.1198 16839292 · DOI
  148. Wirth J. Feldberg F. Schouten A. P. Hooff B. Williams K. D. (2011). “ Using virtual game environments to study group behavior,” in Research Methods for Studying Groups and Teams: A Guide to Approaches, Tools and Technologies, eds Hollingshead A. Scott Poole M. (New York, NY: Routledge), 1– 24.
  149. Wirth J. H. Sacco D. F. Hugenberg K. Williams K. D. (2010). Eye gaze as relational evaluation: averted eye gaze leads to feelings of ostracism and relational devaluation. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 36, 869– 882. 10.1177/0146167210370032 20505162 · DOI
  150. Zaki J. Ochsner K. (2009). The need for a cognitive neuroscience of naturalistic social cognition. Ann. N Y Acad. Sci. 1167, 16– 30. 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04601.x 19580548 PMC2897139 · DOI
  151. Zelazo P. D. Müller U. Frye D. Marcovitch S. Argitis G. Boseovski J. (2003). The development of executive function in early childhood. Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev. i– 151. 14723273
  152. Zwolinski J. (2012). Psychological and neuroendocrine reactivity to ostracism. Aggress. Behav. 38, 108– 125. 10.1002/ab.21411 22331583 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Parsons, T. D.
Affiliations
University of North Texas (US)
Corresponding author
Parsons, Thomas D.
ORCID
Parsons, Thomas D.
Venue
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2015-12-11
Volume
9
Pages
660-660
ISSN
1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fnhum.2015.00660
PMC
PMC4675850
OpenAlex
W2198599185
Cited by
837
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 112 · 2025: 120 · 2024: 135 · 2023: 97 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 84 · 2020: 73 · 2019: 68 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 10 · 2014: 2
FWCI
3.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
virtual reality, ecological validity, experimental control, affective neuroscience, social neuroscience, clinical neuroscience, multimodal stimuli, dynamic stimuli, emotional narratives, social interaction

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review