Virtual reality (VR) is a term used to describe computer-generated virtual environments that the patient can explore and interact with in real time. In this review, the use of VR to construct ecologically valid tasks for use in neuropsychological assessment and rehabilitation is discussed with particular reference to the measurement of prospective memory (PM) abilities. PM, the ability to act upon delayed intentions, is an example of an everyday ability requiring the coordination of a different cognitive processes that is ideally suited to research and rehabilitation using VR. Studies investigating PM and related abilities in patients with brain impairments are surveyed, and it is established that there is evidence for the utility of applying VR procedures to measure prospective remembering. Future research could usefully focus on the construction of a standardised testing procedure with credible psychometric characteristics. In particular, there needs to be evidence for the criterion validity of such tests. Another potential research avenue is the evaluation of VR platforms as tools to teach memory skills and awareness of impairments. It is concluded that difficulties in adapting programs to specific clinical needs, technical issues, and the reluctance of many clinicians to use computer-based technology need to be overcome before VR is likely to be widely used to measure PM.

It is now recognised that prospective memory (PM) failures are commonly observed in clinical groups, and have important implications for functional independence. However, well-validated measures of PM have traditionally been lacking, making this construct difficult to assess in clinical practice. Rendell and Craik's (2000) Virtual Week measure was developed as an indicator of PM, and has been shown to have good psychometric properties and be sensitive to the effects of normal and abnormal adult ageing, as well as various forms of pathology. In this article, an overview of Virtual Week's characteristics is presented, and the literature relating to use of this measure in various populations reviewed. The potential implications of the development of a new computerised version of Virtual Week for clinical practice are discussed.

As the field of prospective memory (ProM) research has expanded, recognition of the need to make a clinical diagnosis of ProM difficulties has also increased. In addition, there is increasing interest in understanding in more detail the ways in which ProM deficits differ in populations with different underlying neurological dysfunctions. While questionnaires, naturalistic studies and laboratory studies have all been invaluable in furthering our understanding of ProM, until recently there has not been a standardised clinical measure. The Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST) was designed to be a relatively brief clinical measure of ProM in clinical populations. The MIST allows for comparisons of performance with event-based and time-based cues. The MIST also has some items with a short (2-minute) and some with a long (15-minute) delay period. Finally, the MIST contains items that require a verbal response as well as items that require an action response. The MIST has now been used in studies of normal ageing as well as a range of clinical populations, including individuals with traumatic brain injury, individuals with HIV infection and individuals with schizophrenia. The psychometric properties of the MIST have been found to be acceptable. Data from each of the clinical populations that have been administered the MIST demonstrate good specificity and sensitivity of the measure as well as the ability to begin to make comparisons about different patterns of performance between disease types.

Objective: To expand upon the existing psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Assessment of Prospective Memory (CAPM) for use with adults with traumatic brain injury by examining concurrent and criterion validity. Method: Participants were 45 adults with a traumatic brain injury. Participants and their relatives completed Section A of the CAPM and a measure of psychosocial integration. Participants were also administered two neuropsychological tests of prospective memory, the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAM-PROMPT) and the Memory Intentions Screening Test (MIST). Concurrent validity was measured by comparing scores on the CAPM with scores on the CAM-PROMPT and MIST. Criterion validity was examined by correlating CAPM scores with level of psychosocial integration. Results: Participant self-reports on the CAPM were not significantly correlated with the CAM-PROMPT or MIST, but were significantly correlated with level of psychosocial integration. Relative reports on the CAPM were correlated significantly with total score on the MIST and CAM-PROMPT and level of psychological integration. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the concurrent validity of the self-report version of CAPM is low suggesting that self-reports alone do not provide an objective measure for assessing prospective memory function. The relative report version however, demonstrated reasonable concurrent and criterion validity, suggesting that the relative report version of the Section A of the CAPM is a useful means of evaluating frequency of prospective memory failure in adults with traumatic brain injury.

The current study aimed to investigate prospective memory in traumatic brain injury by using a laboratory-based but naturalistic style assessment task. The objective was to determine if performance differed when the prospective memory targets were self-generated or experimenter-generated (a generation effect). Sixteen people who had sustained a traumatic brain injury and had received rehabilitation were compared to 16 healthy age-matched control participants on a naturalistic virtual measure of shopping and prospective memory. Results demonstrated that the traumatic brain group was less accurate in overall prospective remembering performance than the control group but there was a lack of difference between the self- and experimenter-generated prospective memory targets for both participant groups. Both retrospective memory and executive attention of working memory were associated with prospective memory performance in the naturalistic task. The findings of the study suggest that the generation effect commonly observed in retrospective memory performance may not impact performance in prospective memory.

In this study, for the first time, prospective memory was investigated in 11 school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders and 11 matched neurotypical controls. A computerised time-based prospective memory task was embedded in a visuospatial working memory test and required participants to remember to respond to certain target times. Controls had significantly more correct prospective memory responses than the autism spectrum group. Moreover, controls checked the time more often and increased time-monitoring more steeply as the target times approached. These differences in time-checking may suggest that prospective memory in autism spectrum disorders is affected by reduced self-initiated processing as indicated by reduced task monitoring.

Current management attempts for Alzheimer's disease (AD) focus on the identification of individuals in the preclinical stage. This has led to the development of the diagnostic concept of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which applies to individuals with declining cognitive abilities but largely preserved everyday functioning. Previous findings indicate that prospective memory deficits are a sensitive marker of preclinical AD and that awareness of prospective memory failures is particularly high, based on its dependence on executive functions. Thus, the goal of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of subjective prospective versus retrospective memory complaints for an initial screening for MCI and their respective associations with executive functions. 71 healthy older adults, 27 MCI patients, and 9 patients with mild AD completed the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) and three executive functions tests. The healthy and the MCI group could not be distinguished by their level of subjective prospective or retrospective memory complaints, but the mild AD patients differed from the other groups by complaining more about retrospective than prospective memory failures. For the healthy older adults, the prospective memory complaints were correlated to an inhibition test, whereas they did not correlate with any of the executive function tests in the MCI patients. In contrast, in both groups the retrospective memory complaints were related to a task switching test. The findings are discussed with respect to differences between the three groups in cognitive abilities, attention to failures of, use of mnemonic aids for, and everyday demands of prospective and retrospective memory.

Prospective memory impairments continue to be among the greatest impediments to return to work for individuals following neurological illness or injury. Current approaches to prospective memory intervention are reviewed in this article. These include behavioral interventions, metacognitive strategies and restorative approaches. In addition, the summary of a study using the restorative approach is presented and discussed. Eight subjects were given a course of prospective memory training designed to increase the length of time that they are able to maintain to-be-performed tasks in mind. These subjects demonstrated improvement on neurospsychological measures, a standardised measure of prospective memory and a generalisation measure of prospective memory in daily life. These data lend support to the notion that prospective memory may be one area of cognition that is responsive to restorative intervention approaches.