MnemoCity Task: Assessment of Childrens Spatial Memory Using Stereoscopy and Virtual Environments

PLoS One. 2016 Aug 31;11(8):e0161858. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161858. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

This paper presents the MnemoCity task, which is a 3D application that introduces the user into a totally 3D virtual environment to evaluate spatial short-term memory. A study has been carried out to validate the MnemoCity task for the assessment of spatial short-term memory in children, by comparing the children's performance in the developed task with current approaches. A total of 160 children participated in the study. The task incorporates two types of interaction: one based on standard interaction and another one based on natural interaction involving physical movement by the user. There were no statistically significant differences in the results of the task using the two types of interaction. Furthermore, statistically significant differences were not found in relation to gender. The correlations between scores were obtained using the MnemoCity task and a traditional procedure for assessing spatial short-term memory. Those results revealed that the type of interaction used did not affect the performance of children in the MnemoCity task.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory, Short-Term / physiology*
  • Mental Recall
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Spatial Memory / physiology*
  • Task Performance and Analysis*
  • User-Computer Interface

Grants and funding

This work was funded mainly by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the CHILDMNEMOS project (TIN2012-37381-C02-01) and confinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). Other financial support was received from the Gobierno de Aragón (Departamento de Industria e Innovación), and Fondo Social Europeo for Aragón.