# Mobile RDoC: Using Smartphone Technology to Understand Auditory Verbal Hallucinations

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $733,776

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVH) occur in the context of a range of mental health conditions as well
as in individuals who are otherwise considered healthy. AVH lead to significant distress, impairment, and need
for care in some, but not others. The RDoC framework is ideally suited to better understand the
phenomenology of AVH as they may be part of a continuum of psychotic experience ranging from “normal” to
pathological. Building on the principles of the RDoC framework, the proposed project focuses on AVH as part
of the broader construct of Auditory Perception and leverages an integrative multi-method paradigm leveraging
measures from two RDoC units of analysis: Self-Report and Behavior. Our multidisciplinary investigative team
proposes to use integrated mobile data collection techniques that we have piloted extensively (Ecological
Momentary Assessment for self-report and automated multi-modal sensing to capture behavior) to study AVH
experience and associated behaviors, as they occur in real-time/real-place in people with and without need for
care. We propose to use innovative online and community-based participant recruitment strategies that we
have piloted in relevant populations to enroll a clinically diverse sample of individuals with AVH. Participants
will be provided with an integrated smartphone data collection system and will actively self-report AVH
experiences and associated variables as they occur in real-time using EMA. Smartphones will also passively
collect multi-modal behavioral sensing data continuously. We will combine both forms of data to examine the
extent to which temporal relationships between self-reported AVH and behavioral measures vary across both
groups. Specifically, we aim to: evaluate whether clinical status is associated with how AVH is experienced in
real- time/real-place; examine relationships between demographic, functional, and immediate social/contextual
factors and AVH; and test time-varying relationships posited in a cognitive model of psychosis between AVH
appraisal, affect, and behavioral response. The study will advance our understanding of the phenomenology of
AVH and move us closer to understanding why some develop impairment and need for care, while others do
not. Findings may help inform the subsequent development of prevention strategies for subclinical populations
so they do not progress in the psychotic trajectory, as well as inform more targeted treatments for individuals
who already require treatment. If successful, the project will demonstrate the utility of applying the RDoC
framework and integrated methodological approach in psychosis research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9924681
- **Project number:** 5R01MH112641-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Dror Ben-Zeev
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $733,776
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-05 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9924681

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9924681, Mobile RDoC: Using Smartphone Technology to Understand Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (5R01MH112641-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9924681. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*