A meta-analysis of perceptual and cognitive functions involved in useful-field-of-view test performance

Abstract

The useful-field-of-view (UFOV) test measures the amount of information someone can extract from a visual scene in one glance. Its scores show relatively strong relationships with everyday activities. The UFOV test consists of three computer tests, suggested to measure processing speed and central vision, divided attention, and selective attention. However, other functions seem to be involved as well. In order to investigate the contribution of these suggested and other perceptual and cognitive functions, we performed a meta-analysis of 116 Pearson's correlation coefficients between UFOV scores and other test scores reported in 18 peer-reviewed articles. We divided these correlations into nine domains: attention, executive functioning, general cognition, memory, spatial ability, visual closure, contrast sensitivity, visual processing speed, and visual acuity. A multivariate mixed-effects model analysis revealed that each domain correlated significantly with each of the UFOV subtest scores. These correlations were stronger for Subtests 2 and 3 than for Subtest 1. Furthermore, some domains were more strongly correlated to the UFOV than others across subtests. We did not find interaction effects between subtest and domain, indicating that none of the UFOV subtests is more selectively sensitive to a particular domain than the others. Thus, none of the three UFOV subtests seem to measure one clear construct. Instead, a range of visual and cognitive functions is involved. Perhaps this is the reason for the UFOV's high ecological validity, as it involves many functions at once, making it harder to compensate if one of them fails.

Useful field of view test performance throughout adulthood in subjects without ocular disorders

“…In addition to visual functions, the age-related decline of UFOV3 performance could also be related to higher cognitive processes. Previous research has shown many correlations between UFOV3 performance and other cognitive tasks including general cognition, executive functioning and change detection (e.g., [ 10 ], for a summary see [ 11 ]). Although we excluded participants who reported the presence of a neurological disorder, we did not screen the general cognitive abilities of the subjects explicitly.…”

“…Values are listed under r[ci] . We used a random effects analysis to estimate the true underlying effect size and its 95% confidence interval which is depicted here as the polygon using R version 3.1.2 [ 38 ] with the ‘metafor’ package [ 54 ](for more details, see [ 11 ]). [ 55 ].…”

“… Results of power analyses of previously reported relationships between UFOV scores and age and between far visual acuity and age. We estimated correlations between the (summed) UFOV scores and age with a random effects meta-analysis of Pearson’s correlation coefficients reported in articles included in [ 11 ], using the ‘metafor’ package version 1.9–8 [ 54 ] in R ( S3 Fig ). The results of a regression analysis of the relationship between age and far visual acuity are reported in [ 22 ], below we show the square root of the reported r 2 .…”

“…Other non-pathological changes of the eye that occur over time also reduce visual functioning and may influence UFOV performance as well. For example, increased optical density of the lens and reduced pupil size decrease contrast sensitivity [ 9 ], which in turn has been related to UFOV performance (e.g., [ 10 ], for a summary see [ 11 ]). In addition, several ocular diseases may occur with increasing frequency in elderly, such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and cataract.…”

Acquired Visual Deficits Independent of Lesion Site in Acute Stroke

“…The American Stroke Association guidelines for the early management of acute ischemic stroke assessment emphasize testing of the level of consciousness, motor strength, items relating to confrontation visual field measurements, horizontal eye movements and visual inattention (4). However, visual function per se is seldom examined rigorously in the emergency room or during initial hospitalization for stroke (5), despite the central role vision plays in driving most human brain functions such as eye movements (6), attention (7), cognition (8), emotional responses (9), motor actions (6), and occupying larger volumes of cortical and subcortical regions in the human brain than do motor functions (10,11).…”