The neuropsychological aspects of performance-based Internet navigation skills: A brief review of an emerging literature

Abstract

Objective: Over the last 20 years, the internet has become a fundamental means by which many people with neurocognitive disorders manage their activities of daily living (ADL; e.g., shopping) and engage in health behaviors (e.g., appointment scheduling). The aim of this review is to summarize the emerging literature on the neuropsychology of performance-based tasks of internet navigation skills (INS) as measures of everyday functioning. Method: We performed a structured, qualitative review of the extant literature on INS using PRISMA guidelines. Results: Seventeen peer-reviewed studies met inclusion criteria and their results suggest that performance-based tests of INS: 1) discriminate healthy adults from some neuropsychological populations (e.g., HIV, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury); 2) are associated with performance-based tests of everyday functioning capacity, domain-specific declines in manifest everyday functioning, and self-reported internet behavior, but not global manifest functional status; 3) correlate with standard clinical neuropsychological tests, particularly executive functions and episodic memory; 4) may relate to demographic factors, most notably age; and 5) have largely unknown psychometric properties (e.g., reliability). Conclusions: This review provided early support for the construct validity of performancebased tasks of INS as modern measures of everyday functioning in neuropsychological populations. Future work is needed to refine these tasks, establish their psychometrics, and

Lower Neurocognitive Functioning Disrupts the Effective Use of Internet-Based Health Resources in HIV Disease: The Mediating Effects of General Health Literacy Capacity

“…At the domain level, measures of episodic memory (e.g., list and figure learning) and finemotor skills demonstrated the strongest associations with eHealth literacy in this sample. These findings are consistent with a recent structured review from our laboratory (15) showing that tests of Internet navigation skill are sensitive to mild neurocognitive disorders (e.g., 50) and correlate with clinical tests of neuropsychological functioning, particularly in the domain of episodic learning and memory for which medium-to-large effect sizes are observed (e.g., 9,18,51). Likewise, two of three prior studies that examined the association between Internet navigation skills and basic motor functioning observed smaller, but significant associations (e.g., 18).…”

“…At face value, it is easy to appreciate how difficulties with motor skills (e.g., using a keyboard and mouse), memory (e.g., forgetting passwords), attention (e.g., being distracted by alerts), and executive functions (e.g., problem-solving technical difficulties or nonintuitive websites) could affect Internet use and navigation. Studies from aging, traumatic brain injury, and multiple sclerosis suggest that Internet search and navigation skills are strongly related to neurocognitive abilities, particular memory and executive functions (see 15), as well as their underlying brain networks (e.g., 16). HIV disease is a major risk factor for impairment in the neurocognitive domains that support Internet navigation, as approximately 30-50% of infected persons meeting criteria for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND; 17).…”

Psychometric properties and clinical utility of the executive function inventory for children and adolescents: a large multistage populational study including children with ADHD

“…With regard to test-based framework, performance-based neuropsychological tests comprise systematic procedures for their application, scoring, and interpretation of structured tasks. We call these instruments ecological measures (Woods et al, 2019) when these tools simulate or mimic daily life activities, or make this evaluation possible through behavioral observation with naturalistic stimuli. Finally, functional instruments refer to rating scales fulfilled by the parents, caregivers and/or teachers to evaluate child behaviors that mirror their executive functioning (Gillen, 2010;.…”

Introduction to special issue: Contextually valid assessment of executive functions in the era of personalized medicine

“…The main premise of this criticism is that performances on measures of EF do not adequately predict patients' ability to function in daily life. To be clear, much research supports the notion that EF as a neurocognitive domain relates to daily functioning (Avci et al, 2018;Bell-McGinty et al, 2002;Boyle et al, 2004;Burton et al, 2019;Cahn-Weiner et al, 2002;Cahn-Weiner et al, 2000;Grigsby et al, 1998;Jefferson et al, 2006;Kraybill & Suchy, 2011;Kraybill et al, 2013;Mariani et al, 2008;Marshall et al, 2011;Puente et al, 2016;Secrest et al, 2000;Woods et al, 2019), and that measures of EF do a better job of predicting daily functioning than measures of other neurocognitive domains (Cahn-Weiner et al, 2000). Nevertheless, the abundance of literature showing statistical significances in group studies has not been helpful to clinicians who are tasked with making decisions and recommendations about each of their patients individually.…”