Name: using a virtual store as a research tool to investigate consumer in-store behavior
Uploaded: 2017-07-24T12:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Using a Virtual Store As a Research Tool to Investigate Consumer In-store Behavior at JoVE.com

The authors would like to acknowledge the Royal Thai government, the European Regional Development Fund, and the Dutch provinces Gelderland and Overijssel (Grant number 2011P017004) for financial support. The content of the paper reflects only the views of the authors. The authors also appreciate help from Andrea Poelstra of GreenDino and Tobias Heffelaar of Noldus Information Technology for their valuable input on technical topics.

The protocol adheres to the &#34;Generic Protocol Food Choice Simulator,&#34; which complies with the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Scientific Practice and has been approved by the Social Sciences Ethics Committee of Wageningen University.
1. Setting Up the Virtual Store Equipment
<ol>
	<li>Prepare a sufficiently spacious location for the virtual store display. Prepare all equipment for both the virtual store and the data management program. 
	Note: The equipment includes two computer...

<ol>
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The virtual store is one of the more advanced computer technologies that have been developed to create virtual environments in which people can experience and react to close-to-reality objects. Generally, the desktop virtual store consists of user-friendly interfaces that require a short time to understand. However, a number of critical points need to be accounted for. First, clear research objectives are needed beforehand to specify the starting points when building the virtual store. This includes a plan about the prod...

It is undeniable that understanding consumers&#39; in-store behavior is of critical importance to achieve effective retail marketing. To aid in this understanding, advanced virtual reality technology, known as the virtual store, can enable studies of consumer behavior using computationally created virtual environments. The virtual-store approach uses a virtual reality system to generate realistic and immersive three-dimensional virtual store environments in which people can interact with the objects in the store. In such virtual store environments, people experience artificially created sensory experiences. Virtual store environments can be either realistic representations of store environments that exist in reality, or imaginary store environments. In addition, the virtual store can be seen as an intermediate tool between traditional consumer research (i.e., text-based surveys, focus groups, or lab experiments), controlled field experiments (i.e., in mock store environments), and field studies (i.e., video captures, personal observations, or tests of product sales promotion)1.
Virtual reality applications have considerable research history. As early as 1965, Sutherland2&#160;described his &#34;ultimate display&#34; concept, which includes a virtual world that provides sound and tactile feedback. Originally, attention was mainly focused on the technological hardware, but as this does not provide insights into the effects of virtual reality systems, attention has shifted to the human experience3,4. The sense of &#34;presence,&#34; of being in the computer-generated world, has consequently become a key to virtual-reality experiences5,6. Presence has been defined as the &#34;subjective experience of being in an environment, even when one is physically situated in another&#34;.7 From this point of view, &#34;sense of presence&#34; can be retrieved from a participant and refers to the extent to which a person perceives him/herself to be in an environment. Alternatively, Slater8 has distinguished between the concepts of presence and immersion, called &#34;place illusion&#34; (PI) and &#34;plausibility illusion&#34; (Psi). PI relates to having a sensation of being in a real place. It is assessed by a set of valid actions or responses that participants can perform to change their perceptions or the environment (e.g., moving the head and eye to change the gaze direction or grasping some object to move it). PI is high when a similar set of responses to change perceptions are required in the virtual reality system compared to the response expected in an equivalent physical environment. Psi accounts for what is perceived in the virtual reality, referring to the illusion that it is actually occurring. A vital component that can lead to Psi is for the virtual reality to provide the illusion that events in the virtual environment over which a participant does not have direct control refer directly to him/herself. Psi can be measured by tracing any actions or responses that people manifest in response to changes in the virtual reality that originated from outside. For example, if people&#39;s heart rates increase when they see an avatar in the virtual environment, this can represent a similar reaction to the real world. Thus, this virtual reality system provides high Psi.
The virtual store technology has been introduced in business and academics to serve several purposes. It can be used as a managerial aid, for instance to assist category managers of companies in developing a shelf plan for their products. Virtual stores also have their use in clinical settings, to measure emotional responses to food for patients with an eating disorder1 or as a screening tool for mild cognitive impairment9. A more common use of virtual stores in research, however, is to assess consumer in-store behavior and consumer responses to changes in the store environment, such as price changes10,11,12, different setups of point-of-sale displays13, different packaging options14, different nutritional labels on the backsides of product packages15, and stock levels16. In addition, the virtual store is currently used to help create and test public health interventions to stimulate healthier food choices among children17. Due to various benefits stated previously, virtual store technology and hardware are in rapid development. Therefore, this paper will focus on the human experience and describe the essential elements of studies using virtual reality in general. All essential information obtained from the current virtual store system will be demonstrated.
Currently available virtual store systems can be briefly categorized as: 1) non-immersive (e.g., desktop), 2) semi-immersive (e.g., projection, CAVE-systems), and 3) fully-immersive (e.g., head-mounted displays). Each system likely brings different levels of immersion, presence, PI, and Psi depending upon the support system. However, because the measures of immersion, presence, PI, and Psi are bound to the specific sensorimotor contingencies that each system supports, a comparison of these indicators across different systems has been deemed impossible8. In recent years, desktop virtual stores have received more attention and have been used increasingly in research. Even though the virtual store has been regarded as a promising tool for in-store consumer behavior research, expertise on how to use such a virtual store is required to ensure the timely and correct preparation and implementation of experiments. However, up to now, reported studies that comprehensively describe the procedure to conduct virtual store experiments are very scarce. Therefore, this work aims to describe a protocol for conducting consumer research with the desktop virtual store, which is of vital importance.
Generally, research with a virtual store requires: 1) equipment to display the virtual environment, 2) an editor program to enable researchers to build the virtual environment, 3) a virtual representation of the studied object (e.g., several elements of a store and products), 4) a consumer interface to navigate the virtual environment and make choices, 5) procedures for running the data collection itself, and 6) a data management system that facilitates data storage and analysis. Most of these will likely be managed by a virtual shop company and a programmer. Researchers should know: 1) how to create a retail store for an experiment in an editor program, 2) how to run data collection with the consumer interface, and 3) how to organize all outputs in the data management program and export outputs to be put into a statistical program. The current paper will address this information by giving detailed protocol steps for conducting experiments with the desktop virtual store. Additionally, advantages and limitations of using the virtual store in consumer research will be discussed. The detailed protocol described in this paper can be used to help researchers start and conduct virtual store research.
The desktop virtual store used in this paper requires hardware (i.e., personal computers (PC), liquid-crystal display (LCD) screens, a three-dimensional (3D) space navigator, a mouse, and a keyboard) and software (i.e., to design a shop and to shop like a consumer in a 3D virtual store). This particular system has been used in prior studies14,18.

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			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:196px;">Virtual Supermarket Software</td>
			<td style="width:89px;">GreenDino BV</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">http://www.greendino.nl/virtual-labs.html</td>
			<td style="width:229px;">This software consists of editor, product library and consumer interface.&#160;</td>
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		<tr height="105">
			<td height="105" style="height:105px;width:196px;">Data Management Software: Observer XT&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:89px;">Noldus Information Technology</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">http://www.noldus.com/human-behavior-research/products/the-observer-xt&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:229px;">This software records observational data and facilitates the exportation of researcher-specified data sets using filters</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="130">
			<td height="130" style="height:131px;">3D SpaceNavigator</td>
			<td style="width:89px;">3Dconnexion</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">http://www.3dconnexion.eu/index.php?id=26&#38;redirect2=www.3dconnexion.eu</td>
			<td style="width:229px;">A 3D SpaceNavigator allows participants to walk and make turns in the virtual store. In addition, it can be used by participants to adjust their eye-level during a shopping trip.</td>
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			<td height="126" style="height:126px;width:196px;">3D moddeling software (e.g. Blender or 3DS Max)</td>
			<td style="width:89px;">Blender Foundation / Autodesk</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">https://www.blender.org/ http://www.autodesk.nl/products/3ds-max/overview</td>
			<td style="width:229px;">In case 3D models need to be made or adjusted 3D modeling software is needed. Many objects can be found online under different licencing agreements.&#160;</td>
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			<td height="105" style="height:105px;width:196px;">Contract Reseach&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:89px;">Wageningen Univeristy and Research</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">http://www.wur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/Economic-Research.htm</td>
			<td style="width:229px;">The socio-economic research institute (Wageningen Economic Research)&#160; with experience in conducting the consumer research with the virtual store.&#160;</td>
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using a virtual store as a research tool to investigate consumer in-store behavior

People&#39;s responses to products and/or choice environments are crucial to understanding in-store consumer behaviors. Currently, there are various approaches (e.g., surveys or laboratory settings) to study in-store behaviors, but the external validity of these is limited by their poor capability to resemble realistic choice environments. In addition, building a real store to meet experimental conditions while controlling for undesirable effects is costly and highly difficult. A virtual store developed by virtual reality techniques potentially transcends these limitations by offering the simulation of a 3D virtual store environment in a realistic, flexible, and cost-efficient way. In particular, a virtual store interactively allows consumers (participants) to experience and interact with objects in a tightly controlled yet realistic setting. This paper presents the key elements of using a desktop virtual store to study in-store consumer behavior. Descriptions of the protocol steps to: 1) build the experimental store, 2) prepare the data management program, 3) run the virtual store experiment, and 4) organize and export data from the data management program are presented. The virtual store enables participants to navigate through the store, choose a product from alternatives, and select or return products. Moreover, consumer-related shopping behaviors (e.g., shopping time, walking speed, and number and type of products examined and bought) can also be collected. The protocol is illustrated with an example of a store layout experiment showing that shelf length and shelf orientation influence shopping- and movement-related behaviors. This demonstrates that the use of a virtual store facilitates the study of consumer responses. The virtual store can be especially helpful when examining factors that are costly or difficult to change in real life (e.g., overall store layout), products that are not presently available in the market, and routinized behaviors in familiar environments.

The virtual store displayed using a PC with three 42-in LCD screens has been applied to examine the effects of supermarket layout on consumer shopping behavior (e.g., total shopping time, movement duration and speed, total number of products examined, and total number of products purchased) and perceived shopping experience. The virtual store enables the researcher to flexibly modify the attributes of store shelves (i.e., shelf length and shelf orientation) and to examin...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Using a Virtual Store As a Research Tool to Investigate Consumer In-store Behavior at JoVE.com

Using a Virtual Store As a Research Tool to Investigate Consumer In-store Behavior

This paper describes the use of a desktop virtual store to create virtual shopping environments to investigate in-store consumer behavior. A description of the protocol to build and run experiments, example results from an experiment concerning store layout, and important considerations when conducting virtual store experiments are presented.

People&#39;s responses to products and/or choice environments are crucial to understanding in-store consumer behaviors. Currently, there are various ...

The overall goal of this protocol is to provide information on when a virtual supermarket can be helpful in consumer research and how the virtual supermarket software can be used. The virtual store help answer key questions about how consumer respond to in-store marketing tactics, especially when these are difficult to share in real life, such as store layout. The main advantage of this technique is that the virtual store enable the study of in-store consumer behavior in a realistic and flexible, yet highly controlled environment.The relevance of the virtual store in studies of consumer behavior extends beyond traditional retailing, because virtual reality is not limited to actual or current shopping environments. Generally, individuals new to these methods will struggle because the virtual store consists of many features and functions. Visual demonstration of this method is critical, because preparation and data collection steps can be difficult to learn.Many details require expertise to ensure correct preparation and implementation. Begin by opening the virtual store builder interface by double-clicking on the VirtualShop editor icon on the desktop. Open a store template that is suitable for the study by clicking File and clicking Open.Select the desired store template. To make modifications to the store based on the experimental conditions and research plan, use the right mouse button and move the mouse to zoom in and out. Use the left mouse button and move the mouse to change the viewpoint.Replace existing products with products of interest by double-clicking on an existing product and subsequently pressing the Delete button on the keyboard to delete this product. Then, click on the blue arrow in the menu bar to open the product library. Click Product Category, and then select the product category of interest.For example, fruit. Drag a selected product by holding the left mouse button, and place the product on the desired shelf. To set up for the main experiment, first select the name of store condition on the ShopConfig box, and type the name of store environment in the Environment box, such as Supermarket001.Click on Reload shop to open the store for the main test. Then the Begin box will appear. Next, open the data management program on another computer.Create a new observation by clicking on Observe in the top menu bar, and then clicking on Observation and New. Name the observation and click OK.Start recording by pressing the red circle button, and fill in user-defined variables such as an experimental condition, then click OK.Ensure that the program starts recording data by checking that the status data plugin and status event plugin windows show green check marks, that time is elapsing, and that the number of sample column in the status data plugin window is growing. Now that the setup is ready for the main task, seat a participant who has already completed the practice task in front of the middle LCD screen and at a short distance from the middle screen.Adjust the chair until the participant's eye level matches the position of the screens. Next, instruct the participant to press Begin to start visiting the store. Inform the participant to use the joystick to move in the store or to change the level of eye view.Tell them to use the mouse to select, buy, or return products, and to select their walking direction at an intersection. Then leave the participant alone to shop without interruption. Check the data management program again to ensure that the data is recording by checking the status data plugin and the status event plugin windows, showing an increasing number of samples and events.Wait until the participant finishes shopping in the virtual store. Remind the participant to check the shopping cart by pressing F1, and to press Escape to complete the shopping task. Next, press the stop button of the data management program on the other computer to stop recording.Escort the participant to another area and have him or her fill out a questionnaire measuring their shopping experiences, perceptions about the store, and willingness to revisit the store. Finally, return to the data management program and click on the Visualize button to check the recorded data. Ensure that the graph and data of bought products are shown.Set up a data filter for the shopping-related behaviors by clicking Data Profile under the Analyses folder on the left menu column. Following that, select the Nest over Behaviors box under the Select Intervals heading, which will pop up the box of nested behaviors. Then, select all the behaviors of interest and click OK.Drag the nested behaviors box and drop it between the Start and Results boxes.Then ensure that all boxes are connected with arrows and that the Results box shows the correct number of observations. Under the Analyses folder, click on Behavior Analyses, and then click New Behavior Analysis to open the table of behavior-related results. Click on Calculate on the top left of the menu bar to extract the results.Ensure that the shopping behaviors for participant are shown in separate rows. Finally, click the Export button to export the data, and name the exported file. In this study, supermarket stores were built using four different layouts in which shelf length, short versus long shelves, and shelf orientation, paralleled versus unparalleled arrangements, were varied.Results indicated that when shelves were placed in parallel, the length of the shelves did not affect the number of products examined, nor the number of products purchased. In contrast, when the orientation of the shelves was unparalleled, shorter shelf lengths stimulated a higher number of products examined and purchased than longer shelf lengths. In addition to product choice behaviors, the virtual store also recorded the total shopping time and the walking distance, which indicated significant differences between parallel and unparalleled shelf orientations.Lastly, results revealed that consumers with a hedonic motivation searched for and purchased more products than consumers with a utilitarian motivation. They also spend more time in the store and walked longer distances. While attempting this procedure, it's important to remember that the practice session is vital to familiarize participant with the virtual store and minimize biases generated from different computer skills.Moreover, clear instructions on what the participant should or should not do are extremely important the help the participant complete the experiment. Following this procedure, others tools like an eye tracker can combined in order to answer questions like what information consumers use to make choices. This technique paves the way for researchers in the field of consumer studies to examine consumer responses to in-store marketing strategies and to new products that are not yet on the market.After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to use a desktop virtual supermarket to create virtual shopping environments and study in-store consumer behavior. Don't forget that the virtual store is a new computer technology in development. The searchers should be cautioned to save data as frequently as possible to avoid data loss.

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Combined Shuttle-Box Training with Electrophysiological Cortex Recording and Stimulation as a Tool to Study Perception and Learning

Shuttle-box avoidance learning is a well-established method in behavioral neuroscience and experimental setups were traditionally custom-made; the necessary equipment is now available by several commercial companies. This protocol provides a detailed description of a two-way shuttle-box avoidance learning paradigm in rodents (here Mongolian gerbils; Meriones unguiculatus) in combination with site-specific electrical intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) and simultaneous chronical electrophysiological in vivo recordings. The detailed protocol is applicable to study multiple aspects of learning behavior and perception in different rodent species.
Site-specific ICMS of auditory cortical circuits as conditioned stimuli here is used as a tool to test the perceptual relevance of specific afferent, efferent and intracortical connections. Distinct activation patterns can be evoked by using different stimulation electrode arrays for local, layer-dependent ICMS or distant ICMS sites. Utilizing behavioral signal detection analysis it can be determined which stimulation strategy is most effective for eliciting a behaviorally detectable and salient signal. Further, parallel multichannel-recordings using different electrode designs (surface electrodes, depth electrodes, etc.) allow for investigating neuronal observables over the time course of such learning processes. It will be discussed how changes of the behavioral design can increase the cognitive complexity (e.g. detection, discrimination, reversal learning).

Shuttle-box avoidance learning is well-established in behavioral neuroscience. This protocol describes how shuttle-box learning in rodents can be combined with site-specific electrical intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) and simultaneous chronical in vivo recordings as a tool to study multiple aspects of learning and perception.

Shuttle-box avoidance learning is a well-established method in behavioral neuroscience and experimental setups were traditionally custom-made; the ...

Vagus Nerve Stimulation as a Tool to Induce Plasticity in Pathways Relevant for Extinction Learning

Extinction describes the process of attenuating behavioral responses to neutral stimuli when they no longer provide the reinforcement that has been maintaining the behavior. There is close correspondence between fear and human anxiety, and therefore studies of extinction learning might provide insight into the biological nature of anxiety-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and they might help to develop strategies to treat them. Preclinical research aims to aid extinction learning and to induce targeted plasticity in extinction circuits to consolidate the newly formed memory. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a powerful approach that provides tight temporal and circuit-specific release of neurotransmitters, resulting in modulation of neuronal networks engaged in an ongoing task. VNS enhances memory consolidation in both rats and humans, and pairing VNS with exposure to conditioned cues enhances the consolidation of extinction learning in rats. Here, we provide a detailed protocol for the preparation of custom-made parts and the surgical procedures required for VNS in rats. Using this protocol we show how VNS can facilitate the extinction of conditioned fear responses in an auditory fear conditioning task. In addition, we provide evidence that VNS modulates synaptic plasticity in the pathway between the infralimbic (IL) medial prefrontal cortex and the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA), which is involved in the expression and modulation of extinction memory.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has emerged as a tool to induce targeted synaptic plasticity in the forebrain to modify a range of behaviors. This protocol describes how to implement VNS to facilitate the consolidation of fear extinction memory.

Extinction describes the process of attenuating behavioral responses to neutral stimuli when they no longer provide the reinforcement that has been ...

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Studies investigating how people represent themselves and their own body often use variants of &#34;ownership illusions&#34;, such as the traditional rubber-hand illusion or the more recently discovered enfacement illusion. However, these examples require rather artificial experimental setups, in which the artificial effector needs to be stroked in synchrony with the participants&#39; real hand or face&#8212;a situation in which participants have no control over the stroking or the movements of their real or artificial effector. Here, we describe a technique to establish ownership illusions in a setup that is more realistic, more intuitive, and of presumably higher ecological validity. It allows creating the virtual-hand illusion by having participants control the movements of a virtual hand presented on a screen or in virtual space in front of them. If the virtual hand moves in synchrony with the participants&#39; own real hand, they tend to perceive the virtual hand as part of their own body. The technique also creates the virtual-face illusion by having participants control the movements of a virtual face in front of them, again with the effect that they tend to perceive the face as their own if it moves in synchrony with their real face. Studying the circumstances that illusions of this sort can be created, increased, or reduced provides important information about how people create and maintain representations of themselves.

Here, we describe virtual-hand and virtual-face illusion paradigms that can be used to study body-related self-perception/-representation. They have already been used in various studies to demonstrate that, under specific conditions, a virtual hand or face can be incorporated into one&#39;s body representation, suggesting that body representations are rather flexible.

Studies investigating how people represent themselves and their own body often use variants of &#34;ownership illusions&#34;, such as the traditional ...

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies

Over the last decade, employing computer animations for animal behavior research has increased due to its ability to non-invasively manipulate the appearance and behavior of visual stimuli, compared to manipulating live animals. Here, we present the FishSim Animation Toolchain, a software framework developed to provide researchers with an easy-to-use method for implementing 3D computer animations in behavioral experiments with fish. The toolchain offers templates to create virtual 3D stimuli of five different fish species. Stimuli are customizable in both appearance and size, based on photographs taken of live fish. Multiple stimuli can be animated by recording swimming paths in a virtual environment using a video game controller. To increase standardization of the simulated behavior, the prerecorded swimming path may be replayed with different stimuli. Multiple animations can later be organized into playlists and presented on monitors during experiments with live fish.
In a case study with sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna), we provide a protocol on how to conduct a mate-choice copying experiment with FishSim. We utilized this method to create and animate virtual males and virtual model females, and then presented these to live focal females in a binary choice experiment. Our results demonstrate that computer animation may be used to simulate virtual fish in a mate-choice copying experiment to investigate the role of female gravid spots as an indication of quality for a model female in mate-choice copying.
Applying this method is not limited to mate-choice copying experiments but can be used in various experimental designs. Still, its usability depends on the visual capabilities of the study species and first needs validation. Overall, computer animations offer a high degree of control and standardization in experiments and bear the potential to &#39;reduce&#39; and &#39;replace&#39; live stimulus animals as well as to &#39;refine&#39; experimental procedures.

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies

Using the novel FishSim Animation Toolchain, we present a protocol for non-invasive visual manipulation of public information in the context of mate-choice copying in sailfin mollies. FishSim Animation Toolchain provides an easy-to-use framework for the design, animation and presentation of computer-animated fish stimuli for behavioral experiments with live test fish.

Over the last decade, employing computer animations for animal behavior research has increased due to its ability to non-invasively manipulate the ...

Applying an eMASS Customization Program as a Research Tool to Evaluate Consumer Benefits

As many scholars and practitioners study personalization and relationship marketing, it is important to provide personalization such as mass customization through marketing technology. The purpose of this study is to examine how to conduct consumer research using an online survey and analysis of data. This study examines consumers&#39;&#160;perceived benefits while customizing a product as well as emotional product attachment, attitudes toward a customization program, and loyalty intentions in the context of online retailing. In addition, this study investigates how consumer responses are different based on individual characteristics such as fashion innovativeness. An online survey company in South Korea recruited 290 female apparel shoppers who purchased apparel online. To enhance external validity, this study used an existing retail website with a well-established mass customization program. After completing the customization program, participants complete the online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and latent mean analyses (LMAs) are then performed for analyses. This study stresses the importance of testing measurement invariance for mean comparisons. Before the SEM and LMA, this study follows the hierarchy of invariance tests (configural invariance test, metric invariance test, and scalar invariance test), which are not considered by traditional approaches such as ANOVA. These statistical analyses provide applicability of the invariance test procedures and LMA to consumer behaviors. The conclusions of mean differences have integrity and validity because they are guided by a sophisticated statistical procedure to ensure measurement invariance.

Presented here is a protocol to examine consumer responses toward mass customization in the context of online retailing. The protocol details the online survey procedure and how to analyze data using structural equation modeling and group differences using latent mean analyses.

As many scholars and practitioners study personalization and relationship marketing, it is important to provide personalization such as mass customization ...

Using Cholesky Decomposition to Explore Individual Differences in Longitudinal Relations between Reading Skills

The Cholesky decomposition method is the gold standard used in the field of behavioral genetics. The method is popular because it is easy to program and solve. Using this method, researchers can explore individual differences in longitudinal relations of different variables across multiple time points. The method allows investigators to decompose variance into (1) unique&#160;genetic, shared and non-shared environmental effects that arise at specific time points as well as (2) overlapping genetic, shared and non-shared environmental effects that carry over from one time point to another. However, the method does not identify the mechanisms or origins underlying these effects. The current report focuses on application of the Cholesky decomposition method in the field of educational psychology. Specifically, it discusses individual differences in longitudinal relations between kindergarten letter knowledge, kindergarten phonological awareness, first grade word-level reading skills, and seventh grade reading comprehension.

This paper demonstrates use of the gold standard method in behavioral genetics, the Cholesky decomposition method, to estimate unique, overlapping genetic and environmental influences on different variables to answer longitudinally motivated research questions.

The Cholesky decomposition method is the gold standard used in the field of behavioral genetics. The method is popular because it is easy to program and ...

Using a Virtual Reality Walking Simulator to Investigate Pedestrian Behavior

To cross a road successfully, individuals must coordinate their movements with moving vehicles. This paper describes use of a walking simulator in which people walk on a treadmill to intercept gaps between two moving vehicles in an immersive virtual environment. Virtual reality allows for a safe and ecologically varied investigation of gap crossing behavior. Manipulating the initial starting distance can further the understanding of a participant&#8217;s speed regulation while approaching a gap. The speed profile may be assessed for various gap crossing variables, such as initial distance, vehicle size, and gap size. Each walking simulation results in a position/time series that can inform how velocity is adjusted differently depending on the gap characteristics. This methodology can be used by researchers investigating pedestrian behavior and behavioral dynamics while employing human participants in a safe and realistic setting.

This protocol describes use of a walking simulator that serves as a safe and ecologically valid method to study pedestrian behavior in the presence of moving traffic.

To cross a road successfully, individuals must coordinate their movements with moving vehicles. This paper describes use of a walking simulator in which ...

Simultaneous Monitoring of Wireless Electrophysiology and Memory Behavioral Test as a Tool to Study Hippocampal Neurogenesis

Brainwaves amplitude obtained from electroencephalography (EEG) has been well-recognized as a basis for cognitive capacity, memory, and learning on animals and humans. Adult neurogenesis mechanism is also linked to memory and learning improvement. Traditionally, researchers used to assess learning and memory parameters in rodent models by behavioral tasks. Therefore, the simultaneous monitoring of behavioral changes and EEG is particularly interesting in correlating data between brain activity and task-related behaviors. However, most of the equipment required to perform both studies are either complex, expensive, or uses a wired setup network that hinders the natural animals&#8217; movement. In this study, EEG was recorded with a wireless electrophysiology device along with the execution of a novel object recognition task (NORT). The animal&#8217;s behavior was monitored simultaneously by a video tracking system. Both recordings were analyzed offline by their timestamps which were synched to link EEG signals with the animal&#8217;s actions. Subjects consist of adult Wistar rats after medium-term environmental enrichment treatment. Six skull screw electrodes were fixed in pairs on both hemispheres over frontal, central, and parietal regions and were referenced to an electrode located posterior of the nasal bone. NORT protocol consists of exposing the animal to two identical objects for 10 min. After 2 h and 24 h, one of the objects was replaced with a novel one. Exploration time for each object was monitored by a behavioral tracking software (BTS) and EEG data recording. The analysis of the EEG synced with behavioral data consists of estimations of alpha and beta relative band power and comparisons between novel object recognition versus familiar object exploration, between three experimental stages. In this manuscript, we have discussed electrodes manufacturing process, epidural electrodes implantation surgery, environmental enrichment protocol, NORT protocol, BTS setup, EEG &#8211; BTS coupling for simultaneous monitoring in real-time, and EEG data analysis based on automatic events detection.

The protocol presented here provides information on the simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral assessment in real-time. We have discussed all steps involved in this protocol as an attractive solution for researchers in many fields of neuroscience, particularly in learning and memory areas.

Brainwaves amplitude obtained from electroencephalography (EEG) has been well-recognized as a basis for cognitive capacity, memory, and learning on ...

Using Enclosed Y-Mazes to Assess Chemosensory Behavior in Reptiles

Reptiles utilize a variety of environmental cues to inform and drive animal behavior such as chemical scent trails produced by food or conspecifics. Decrypting the scent-trailing behavior of vertebrates, particularly invasive species, enables the discovery of cues that induce exploratory behavior and can aid in the development of valuable basic and applied biological tools. However, pinpointing behaviors dominantly driven by chemical cues versus other competing environmental cues can be challenging. Y-mazes are common tools used in animal behavior research that allow quantification of vertebrate chemosensory behavior across a range of taxa. By reducing external stimuli, Y-mazes remove confounding factors and present focal animals with a binary choice. In our Y-maze studies, a scenting animal is restricted to one arm of the maze to leave a scent trail and is removed once scent-laying parameters have been met. Then, depending on the trial type, either the focal animal is allowed into the maze, or a competing scent trail is created. The result is a record of the focal animal&#39;s choice and behavior while discriminating between the chemical cues presented. Here, two Y-maze apparatuses tailored to different invasive reptile species: Argentine black and white tegu lizards (Salvator merianae) and Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) are described, outlining the operation and cleaning of these Y-mazes. Further, the variety of data produced, experimental drawbacks and solutions, and suggested data analysis frameworks have been summarized.

Y-mazes enable researchers to determine the relevance of specific stimuli that drive animal behavior, especially isolated chemical cues from a variety of sources. Careful design and planning can yield robust data (e.g., discrimination, degree of exploration, numerous behaviors). This experimental apparatus can provide powerful insight into behavioral and ecological questions.

Reptiles utilize a variety of environmental cues to inform and drive animal behavior such as chemical scent trails produced by food or conspecifics. ...

SECONDs Administration Guidelines: A Fast Tool to Assess Consciousness in Brain-injured Patients

Establishing an accurate diagnosis is crucial for patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) following a severe brain injury. The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) is the recommended behavioral scale for assessing the level of consciousness among these patients, but its long duration&#160;of administration is a major hurdle in clinical settings. The Simplified Evaluation of CONsciousness Disorders (SECONDs) is a shorter scale that was developed to tackle this issue. It consists of six mandatory items&#160;(observation, command-following, visual pursuit, visual fixation, oriented behaviors, and arousal)&#160;and two conditional items&#160;(communication and localization to pain). The score ranges between 0 and 8 and corresponds to a specific diagnosis (i.e., coma, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, minimally conscious state minus/plus, or emergence from the minimally conscious state). A first validation study on patients with prolonged DoC showed high concurrent validity and intra- and inter-rater reliability. The SECONDs requires less training than the CRS-R and its administration lasts about 7 minutes (interquartile range: 5-9 minutes). An additional index score allows the more precise tracking of a patient&#39;s behavioral fluctuation or evolution over time. The SECONDs is therefore a fast and valid tool for assessing the level of consciousness in patients with severe brain injury. It can easily be used by healthcare staff and implemented in time-constrained clinical settings, such as intensive care units, to help&#160;decrease misdiagnosis rates and to optimize treatment decisions. These administration guidelines provide detailed instructions for administering the SECONDs in a standardized and reproducible manner, which is an essential requirement for achieving a reliable diagnosis.

These guidelines can be used for the administration of the Simplified Evaluation of CONsciousness Disorders (SECONDs), a short behavioral tool developed to diagnose brain-injured patients in time-constrained settings. This scale examines command-following, communication, visual pursuit, fixation, pain localization, oriented movements and arousal.

Establishing an accurate diagnosis is crucial for patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) following a severe brain injury. The Coma Recovery ...