Screen recorder used In Research Study

Aberdeen University has been researching the ability of adolescents with Asperger Syndrome to multi-task, using a screen recorder to record behaviour for later analysis.

[ClickPress, Tue Sep 18 2007] A simple thing like making a cup of tea takes planning and organising, and where the pre-frontal cortex is damaged (such as in an autistic disorder) the ability to perform different activities concurrently can be seriously affected.

According to the National Autistic Society 500,000 people in the UK are affected by an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and despite major advances in the understanding of the condition, addressing the needs of this group remains a problem for Education Authorities, the NHS and Social Services.

Individuals with Asperger Syndrome pose particular difficulties because, like all people with ASDs, they are characterised by deficits in communication and socialisation and have restricted interests or repetitive behaviours.

Investigating this condition in the real world is naturally difficult. However, studies conducted in virtual environments provide a good solution by offering experimental control and a safe non-threatening environment for the participants, whilst still making real time demands on them.

Dr. Gnanathusharan Rajendran and his colleagues at the University of Edinburgh proposed using an adapted virtual environment called the 'Virtual Errands Test' to measure the multi-tasking performance of AS sufferers by watching them complete on-screen tasks to a set time limit.

The Virtual Errands Test (VET) involved giving volunteers tasks to do on a PC screen and recording the results for later analysis. The VET task involved scrolling through an office building with numbered rooms on three floors, performing office-based tasks such as “make a phone call in Room T1”.

If participants attempted the sequence of errands in list order, then the inefficient route meant they ran out of time before completing all the tasks. Performance was then scored by the number of errands successfully completed within the time-limit. The study predicted that individuals with autism would complete fewer errands than control participants because of their impaired ability to multi-task.

Dr. Rajendran said: “This kind of research is often done outside the laboratory, for example in schools, and without the use of screen capture software, we would have had to consider recording the onscreen events using a camera, video recorder and projector.”

“We discovered the superior alternative of using screen recorders by accident, and were given a copy of BB FlashBack by Blueberry Software, once we explained to the company what we were trying to do.

“Now, it is a matter of un-intrusively running the program in the background and letting the participants work normally without being disturbed by the experimenter – a factor that can possibly affect results.

“Once the recordings have been made, it is a simple matter of burning the movie to CD and sending it to colleagues for further analysis.

“In my view, screen capture is a powerful tool in computer-screen based research, with the potential to be used in many future research applications of this nature.”

The initial findings of the report, entitled, “Investigating multi-tasking in Asperger syndrome using the Virtual Errands Task”, were presented at the British Psychological Society's Annual Developmental Conference in Plymouth at the end of August, 2007.

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