Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2019 Nov 27;34(8):1438-1444. doi: 10.1093/arclin/acz009.
Despite its brevity and face validity, little is known about the construct validity of the naturalistic "Key Task" of prospective memory (PM), in which an examinee is instructed to remind the examiner at a designated time to retrieve keys (or another belonging) placed out of sight.
Study 1 included 162 HIV+ and 52 HIV- comparison participants who completed the Key Task alongside well-validated measures of PM and a comprehensive neuropsychological battery that included everyday functioning measures. Study 2 used broadly parallel methods in 168 older community-dwelling Australians.
Overall, the Key Task was not reliably associated with neurocognitive functioning (including clinical and experimental measures of PM), PM symptoms, or everyday functioning in either sample.
The Key Task did not demonstrate compelling evidence of construct validity among persons living with HIV disease or older adults, which raises doubts regarding its clinical usefulness as a measure of PM.
尽管自然主义“关键任务”前瞻性记忆（PM）的简短性和表面有效性，但对于其结构有效性知之甚少，在该任务中，要求受检者在指定时间提醒检查者取回放在视线之外的钥匙（或其他物品）。
研究 1 包括 162 名 HIV+和 52 名 HIV-对照组参与者，他们在完成关键任务的同时，还完成了经过良好验证的 PM 测量以及包括日常功能测量在内的全面神经心理学测试。研究 2 在 168 名年龄较大的社区居住的澳大利亚人中使用了大致平行的方法。
总体而言，关键任务与认知功能（包括 PM 的临床和实验测量）、PM 症状或两个样本中的日常功能均无可靠关联。
关键任务在 HIV 疾病患者或老年人中并未表现出令人信服的结构有效性证据，这使人对其作为 PM 测量的临床有用性产生了怀疑。
