METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF VERBAL RECOGNITION MEMORY
A method is presented to address quantitative assessment of verbal memory of a subject, where the method comprises the steps of: ( 1 ) presenting at least one scene to the subject on a display, the scene comprising a plurality of symbols and a background; ( 2 ) moving the plurality of symbols relative to the scene, the movement being tracked by the subject via at least one input device; ( 3 ) adjusting the saliency of the plurality of symbols relative to the tracked movement; ( 4 ) increasing the number of said plurality of symbols; ( 5 ) receiving feedback from the subject via said input device; ( 6 ) quantitatively refining the received feedback; ( 7 ) modulating the movement of the plurality of symbols relative to the accuracy of the quantitatively refined feedback; ( 8 ) calculating a critical threshold parameter; and ( 9 ) recording a critical threshold parameter onto a tangible computer readable medium. An apparatus for quantitative assessment of verbal recognition memory of a subject comprising a display device, an input device, a control device, and a tangible computer readable medium. In its simplest sense, a quantitative assessment profile of verbal recognition memory by psychophysical responses is generated on a tangible computer readable medium.
1 . A method for assessment of verbal recognition memory of a subject, said method comprising the steps of:
presenting at least one scene to said subject on a display, said scene comprising a plurality of symbols and a background;
moving said plurality of symbols relative to said scene, said movement being tracked by said subject via at least one input device;
adjusting the saliency of said plurality of symbols relative to said tracked movement;
increasing the number of said plurality of symbols;
receiving feedback from said subject via said input device;
quantitatively refining said received feedback relative to said scene;
modulating said movement of said plurality of symbols relative to the accuracy of the quantitatively refined feedback;
calculating a critical threshold parameter for said subject; and
recording said critical threshold parameter onto a tangible computer readable medium.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of the additional steps of:
monitoring at least one response error from said subject; and
measuring said response error relative to a predetermined threshold.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of presenting is repeated more than once.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of moving and said step of adjusting are unison.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of modulating and adjusting are performed in unison.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of symbols further comprises a word in the English language.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of symbols further comprises a plurality of words in the English language.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of symbols further comprises a non-word in the English language.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of symbols further comprises a plurality of non-words in the English language.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of symbols are at least one of the following:
inverted;
flipped;
mirrored; and
rotated.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted saliency is modulated to a higher saliency.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted saliency is modulated to a lower saliency.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said movement is discontinuous.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said movement is continuous.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of increasing is associated with deriving a saliency threshold.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said movement is associated with a random location on said scene.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said quantitative refinement is associated with saliency.
18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said critical threshold parameter is implemented in a different functional impairment assessment test.
19 . An apparatus for quantitative assessment of verbal recognition memory of a subject comprising:
a display for presenting a scene comprising a plurality of symbols and a background;
an input device for tracking movement from said subject;
a control device, said control device capable of performing the following steps:
moving said plurality of symbols relative to said scene, said movement being tracked by said subject via at least one input device;
adjusting the saliency of said plurality of symbols relative to said tracked movement;
increasing the number of said plurality of symbols;
receiving feedback from said subject via said input device;
quantitatively refining said received feedback relative to said scene;
modulating said movement of said plurality of symbols relative to the accuracy of the quantitatively refined feedback; and
calculating a critical threshold parameter for said subject.
a tangible computer readable medium for recording said critical threshold parameter.
20 . A tangible computer readable medium, said tangible computer readable medium containing instructions comprising the steps of:
presenting at least one scene to said subject on a display, said scene comprising a plurality of symbols and a background;
moving said plurality of symbols relative to said scene, said movement being tracked by said subject via at least one input device;
adjusting the saliency of said plurality of symbols relative to said tracked movement;
increasing the number of said plurality of symbols;
receiving feedback from said subject via said input device;
quantitatively refining said received feedback relative to said scene;
modulating said movement of said plurality of symbols relative to the accuracy of the quantitatively refined feedback; and
calculating a critical threshold parameter for said subject.