Computerized-Assisted Technology of Virtual Reality on Memory in People with Williams Syndrome

Chingfen Hsu^*Qian Jiang

• Hunan University, Changsha, China

Background: People with Williams syndrome (WS, n = 20, chronological age [CA] = 12.5, mental age [MA] = 8.9) have strong verbal short-term memory but challenged verbal long-term memory given advantageous lexical semantics. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the memory of people with WS using virtual reality to determine the root of the challenges using virtual navigation. Methods: Four typically developing control groups participated in a navigation task with shopping setting: CA-matched (mean = 12.5), MA-matched (mean = 8.8), the 5 th graders (mean = 10.3), and college students (CS, mean = 20.2). Fourteen indices were measured and error patterns were analyzed across groups. Results: People with WS shopped the longest and erred the most. The CA group shopped longer and erred more than the MA group; the 5 th graders were similar to the CS. People with WS replaced and confused more than controls. Further analyses revealed atypical processing of semantic features of the target items of people with WS. The practice effect emerged in people with WS through number of pauses and length of pauses during navigation as the control groups. Conclusions:The highest error rates in people with WS revealed bizarre lexical semantic knowledge, which may be an influential factor of impaired long-term memory and sentence comprehension. The practice effect seems to be an important key to rehabilitation potentials of people with WS. Implications: VR technology could be a promising tool for the assessment of memory and cognitive abilities in people with WS. With computerized-assisted technological advancements in training, people with WS would improve their abilities on long-term memory and sentence comprehension.