To examine the effect of MACT on attention skills of psychiatric patients with psychotic features a randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in a forensic psychiatric clinic. This study investigated possible benefits of musical attention control training (MACT). Poor attention skills constitute a major problem for psychiatric patients with psychotic symptoms, and increase their chances of treatment drop-out. Our study provides rare experimental evidence that people can accurately detect variation in biodiversity, that high avian diversity boosts visitor perceptions of urban green-space quality, and that people with increased nature connectedness show enhanced attentional capacity following an exposure to green-space.
Respondents that were more connected to nature, however, had greater attentional capacity following exposure to green-space. Higher biodiversity did not, however, elicit greater self-reported stimulation or restoration, and did not increase perceived restorativeness scores or attentional capacity (quantified using the Digit Span Backwards attention test). Respondents accurately identified the contrast in biodiversity and reported greater enjoyment of the high biodiversity treatment than the low diversity control. Here, we conduct a controlled experiment in which participants virtually experience urban green-space containing high and low levels of avian biodiversity (altered by manipulating bird song).
Increased biodiversity could increase these stimuli, and ART therefore potentially provides a mediating effect linking biodiversity to well-being. Attention restoration theory (ART) proposes that natural environments contain many softly fascinating stimuli that provide visitors with a sense of separation from their normal settings and routines, switching off direct attention and allowing recovery from attention fatigue. In part, this is due to the paucity of controlled experimental studies that deal adequately with confounding factors that covary with biodiversity. The ability of people to accurately perceive variation in biodiversity is, however, unclear and evidence supporting links between biodiversity exposure and well-being outcomes remains equivocal. Biodiversity may play a key role in generating the well-being benefits of visiting green-spaces. Conclusions: Preliminary findings indicate that cutoff scores of ≤6 and ≤7 on RDS are not appropriate in adults with epilepsy, especially in individuals with low average IQ or below.1. Preliminary results suggest that an RDS cutoff score of ≤4 may be more appropriate in a clinically referred adult epilepsy population with a low average IQ or lower. Given the less than ideal specificity rate associated with each of these cutoff scores, together with their strong association to cognitive factors, secondary analyses were conducted to identify more optimal cutoff scores. Findings also revealed that RDS scores were positively related to attention and intellectual functioning. Results: Previously established cutoff scores of ≤6 and ≤7 on RDS yielded a specificity rate of 85% and 77% respectively. Most participants (98%) passed Trial 2 of the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), achieving a score of ≥45. Method: Sixty-three clinically referred adults with a diagnosis of epilepsy or suspected seizures were administered the Digit Span subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III or WAIS-IV). This investigation aims to determine whether these previously established RDS cutoff scores could detect suboptimal effort in adults with epilepsy. Prior research has shown that cutoff scores of ≤6 or ≤7 on Reliable Digit Span (RDS) can detect suboptimal effort across numerous adult clinical populations however, these scores have not been validated for that purpose in an adult epilepsy population. Objective: Assessment of performance validity is a necessary component of any neuropsychological evaluation.
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