Education and demonstration – Question or problem eliciting response – Response of plural examinees communicated to monitor or...
Patent
1993-11-15
1996-04-30
Apley, Richard J.
Education and demonstration
Question or problem eliciting response
Response of plural examinees communicated to monitor or...
434236, 434258, 128746, G09B 300
Patent
active
055119824
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention concerns a device for testing a person's attention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Specific devices exist for different purposes concerning the testing of a person's attention or ability to concentrate. One such test was proposed by R. M. Pigache for patients suffering from schizophrenia (Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1976, 42, 243-253).
In this particular proposal, the person to be tested listens to strings of digits, letters, words or other sounds, and must react, for example, to particular digits, e.g. the digit "0", by pressing a button with the hand or foot. This test can be carried out so that there is a first phase during which the subject hears the same digits (stimuli) in both ears, then in the next test phase the stimuli are heard in differing order in the different ears, however the subject need only react to certain targets in the two ears (in the following example, this is the "0"), or in a designated ear when information to the other ear serves purely as a distracting signal. The series of stimuli can be delivered to the subject at differing speeds.
At present, however, the tests outlined above can only be carried out at considerable personnel cost. If, for example, nurses or medical technicians read the series of stimuli aloud to the subject, these members of staff must pay very great attention in order both to read out the series of stimuli at a constant speed and very clearly, and to watch very carefully whether the subject is reacting correctly to the targets or is reacting incorrectly where there is no target. The subject carrying our the test must receive appropriate instruction.
The conditions described above can lead to the test results being open to question in that the reproducibility of all tests cannot be guaranteed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An invention was needed to develop a device for the testing of a person's attention which could guarantee exact reproducibility of each test and which could also be run with the minimum of personnel cost yet produce precisely measurable results.
In view of this, the following features were proposed for the test device: the subject through a loudspeaker or headphones, subject on recognition of a specific stimulus (target) which would produce a key impulse, and the targets and other stimuli.
It was considered advisable to use digits as stimuli which meant that the digit "0" could be used as a target.
Using the device set up in the manner described above, it is possible to reproduce test conditions exactly for different subjects and/or at different times. This guarantees sound predictive results. The stimuli are stored in the speech recording in a pseudo-random order and can be read and heard according to a specific cycle frequency at specific time intervals. The subject presses a button every time he or she recognises a "0" and this button delivers a key impulse to the recorder. The recorder receives information not only from the key impulses but also information about the stimuli and targets. This allows the evaluation of individual tests to be carried out rapidly and effectively, enabling the tester to determine whether the subject has reacted correctly to the targets or has pressed the button when no target was heard.
To improve the reproducibility of the test conditions, it is helpful if an information speech recorder and/or a display is provided to deliver instructions to the subject about how to perform the test. It has of course been shown that keeping the subject informed, for example through a medical technician, is adequate in the single case but that these instructions differ from case to case and this can affect the measured results.
As suggested above, there is a quite simple test which involves identical stimuli being delivered to both of the subject's ears through headphones so that the subject must react each time he/she hears a "0". The reading of the series of digits by the speech recorder and the generation of acoustic information by the speech generator takes place at a specific frequency. This frequ
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"Comparison of Scoring Methods for Tests of Attention, Including an Error Index for Use With Schizophrenic Patients" by R. M. Pigache, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1976, 42, 243-253.
Ludwig Lothar
Pigache Robert
Apley Richard J.
Holler Norbert P.
Pigache Robert
Richman Glenn E.
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