Virtual Week: Translation and adaptation for the Italian population

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human Development

Background:

• Prospective memory (PM) is crucial for daily functioning.
• Existing PM measures may not generalize across diverse populations.
• The Virtual Week is a validated laboratory measure of PM.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate and adapt the Virtual Week computerised test for an Italian population.
• To assess the reliability and validity of the adapted Virtual Week across different age groups.
• To investigate age-related patterns in prospective memory performance.

Main Methods:

• Adaptation of the computerised Virtual Week for Italian language and culture.
• Recruitment of 198 participants across five age groups (20-70+ years).
• Administration of the Virtual Week and analysis of prospective memory performance and reliability.

Main Results:

• Prospective memory performance was highest in young adults and decreased with advancing age.
• Older adults showed particular difficulty with time-based prospective memory tasks.
• The adapted Virtual Week demonstrated good reliability across various ages and task types.

Conclusions:

• The Italian adaptation of Virtual Week is a reliable tool for assessing prospective memory in the Italian population.
• Age-related declines in prospective memory are evident, particularly for time-based tasks.
• This adapted measure can facilitate further research on prospective memory across the lifespan in Italy.