Dataset Information

Testing the validity of conflict drift-diffusion models for use in estimating cognitive processes: A parameter-recovery study.

ABSTRACT: Researchers and clinicians are interested in estimating individual differences in the ability to process conflicting information. Conflict processing is typically assessed by comparing behavioral measures like RTs or error rates from conflict tasks. However, these measures are hard to interpret because they can be influenced by additional processes like response caution or bias. This limitation can be circumvented by employing cognitive models to decompose behavioral data into components of underlying decision processes, providing better specificity for investigating individual differences. A new class of drift-diffusion models has been developed for conflict tasks, presenting a potential tool to improve analysis of individual differences in conflict processing. However, measures from these models have not been validated for use in experiments with limited data collection. The present study assessed the validity of these models with a parameter-recovery study to determine whether and under what circumstances the models provide valid measures of cognitive processing. Three models were tested: the dual-stage two-phase model (Hübner, Steinhauser, & Lehle, Psychological Review, 117(3), 759-784, 2010), the shrinking spotlight model (White, Ratcliff, & Starns, Cognitive Psychology, 63(4), 210-238, 2011), and the diffusion model for conflict tasks (Ulrich, Schröter, Leuthold, & Birngruber, Cogntive Psychology, 78, 148-174, 2015). The validity of the model parameters was assessed using different methods of fitting the data and different numbers of trials. The results show that each model has limitations in recovering valid parameters, but they can be mitigated by adding constraints to the model. Practical recommendations are provided for when and how each model can be used to analyze data and provide measures of processing in conflict tasks.

SUBMITTER: White CN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5788738 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Testing the validity of conflict drift-diffusion models for use in estimating cognitive processes: A parameter-recovery study.

White Corey N CN Servant Mathieu M Logan Gordon D GD

Psychonomic bulletin & review 20180201 1

Researchers and clinicians are interested in estimating individual differences in the ability to process conflicting information. Conflict processing is typically assessed by comparing behavioral measures like RTs or error rates from conflict tasks. However, these measures are hard to interpret because they can be influenced by additional processes like response caution or bias. This limitation can be circumvented by employing cognitive models to decompose behavioral data into components of unde ...[more]

PMID: 28357629

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Project description:ImportanceFrontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is relatively rare, behavioral and motor symptoms increase travel burden, and standard neuropsychological tests are not sensitive to early-stage disease. Remote smartphone-based cognitive assessments could mitigate these barriers to trial recruitment and success, but no such tools are validated for FTLD.ObjectiveTo evaluate the reliability and validity of smartphone-based cognitive measures for remote FTLD evaluations.Design, setting, and participantsIn this cohort study conducted from January 10, 2019, to July 31, 2023, controls and participants with FTLD performed smartphone application (app)-based executive functioning tasks and an associative memory task 3 times over 2 weeks. Observational research participants were enrolled through 18 centers of a North American FTLD research consortium (ALLFTD) and were asked to complete the tests remotely using their own smartphones. Of 1163 eligible individuals (enrolled in parent studies), 360 were enrolled in the present study; 364 refused and 439 were excluded. Participants were divided into discovery (n = 258) and validation (n = 102) cohorts. Among 329 participants with data available on disease stage, 195 were asymptomatic or had preclinical FTLD (59.3%), 66 had prodromal FTLD (20.1%), and 68 had symptomatic FTLD (20.7%) with a range of clinical syndromes.ExposureParticipants completed standard in-clinic measures and remotely administered ALLFTD mobile app (app) smartphone tests.Main outcomes and measuresInternal consistency, test-retest reliability, association of smartphone tests with criterion standard clinical measures, and diagnostic accuracy.ResultsIn the 360 participants (mean [SD] age, 54.0 [15.4] years; 209 [58.1%] women), smartphone tests showed moderate-to-excellent reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients, 0.77-0.95). Validity was supported by association of smartphones tests with disease severity (r range, 0.38-0.59), criterion-standard neuropsychological tests (r range, 0.40-0.66), and brain volume (standardized β range, 0.34-0.50). Smartphone tests accurately differentiated individuals with dementia from controls (area under the curve [AUC], 0.93 [95% CI, 0.90-0.96]) and were more sensitive to early symptoms (AUC, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.76-0.88]) than the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (AUC, 0.68 [95% CI, 0.59-0.78]) (z of comparison, -2.49 [95% CI, -0.19 to -0.02]; P = .01). Reliability and validity findings were highly similar in the discovery and validation cohorts. Preclinical participants who carried pathogenic variants performed significantly worse than noncarrier family controls on 3 app tasks (eg, 2-back β = -0.49 [95% CI, -0.72 to -0.25]; P < .001) but not a composite of traditional neuropsychological measures (β = -0.14 [95% CI, -0.42 to 0.14]; P = .32).Conclusions and relevanceThe findings of this cohort study suggest that smartphones could offer a feasible, reliable, valid, and scalable solution for remote evaluations of FTLD and may improve early detection. Smartphone assessments should be considered as a complementary approach to traditional in-person trial designs. Future research should validate these results in diverse populations and evaluate the utility of these tests for longitudinal monitoring.

Project description:It is critical to intervene early in the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage of the Alzheimer's disease trajectory, but traditional cognitive testing methods are costly, burdensome, and difficult to access. We examined adherence and validity data to a 30-day self-administered ecological momentary cognitive testing protocol among a sample of older adults with MCI and cognitively normal controls to evaluate feasibility, tolerability, and initial validity in comparison to standard neuropsychological tests. Participants included 48 participants with MCI (Mean age = 72 years, SD = 7 years) and 46 demographically-matched cognitively normal (NC) control participants (Mean age = 70 years, SD = 7 years). Participants completed traditional neuropsychological testing to determine MCI status, followed by 30 days of remote ecological momentary cognitive testing. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys were administered 3 times per day for 30 days (possible total = 90), and mobile cognitive tests were administered every other day (for a total of 15 administrations). Mobile cognitive tests included the Variable Difficulty List Memory Test (VLMT; measure of learning and memory), Memory Matrix (measure of visual working memory), and the Color Trick Test (measure of executive function). EMA and mobile cognitive test adherence, fatigue effects, mobile cognitive test performance and group differences, and psychometrics (reliability, convergent validity, ceiling effects, and practice effects) were examined. Overall mean-level adherence to the mobile cognitive tests was 85% and did not differ by MCI status. The reliability of stable between-person individual differences for the VLMT and Memory Matrix were very high. Moreover, although the reliability of within-person change for Memory Matrix was adequate, the corresponding reliability for VLMT was somewhat low. Averaged performance on the mobile cognitive tests was correlated with lab-based tests measuring the same construct. Participants with MCI performed worse than NCs on the VLMT and Color Trick Test, and there was no evidence of fatigue effects for these two tests. These findings support the feasibility and potential for ecological momentary cognitive testing to support clinical trials and for measuring cognitive changes over time in persons with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease such as those with MCI.

Dataset Information

Testing the validity of conflict drift-diffusion models for use in estimating cognitive processes: A parameter-recovery study.

Publications

Testing the validity of conflict drift-diffusion models for use in estimating cognitive processes: A parameter-recovery study.

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