# Improving Everyday Task Performance through Repeated Practice in Virtual Reality

> **NIH NIH R21** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2020 · $241,373

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
There are very few effective interventions that promote functional independence in people with Alzheimer's
disease (AD) and related dementias. This R21 project is the first step in our laboratory's long-term goal of
developing an effective, enjoyable, portable, and inexpensive non-immersive virtual reality (VR) training
intervention for improving the performance of everyday tasks. Our VR training approach is built upon the
results of past studies that show 1) when people with AD repeatedly practice daily tasks they subsequently
perform them more completely and without error; and 2) healthy people are able to transfer skills learned in
VR-contexts to tasks in the real world. This R21 study will obtain preliminary data to inform a future
randomized clinical trial through three aims: Aim 1) To test the hypothesis that individuals with mild-
moderate AD will show improved performance on an everyday task after repeatedly practicing the task in a
non-immersive VR setting; Aim 2) To test the hypothesis that participants demonstrate greater benefit from
VR training when VR (training) objects are perceptually identical to objects used later in real-life; and Aim 3)
To explore associations between individual differences variables (e.g., cognitive abilities, demographics) and
training effects. To test Aim 1, 40 participants with mild to moderate AD will be recruited to complete daily VR
Training sessions for one week. VR Training will include repeated practice of a single, everyday task in a non-
immersive VR-context (VR Breakfast or VR Lunch; counterbalanced across participants). The primary
outcome measure is performance of the real-life version of the trained task, which will be collected before and
at two time points after training, compared to performance of an untrained, control task of comparable
difficulty, and scored from video by coders blinded to training task/condition. To evaluate Aim 2, participants
will be randomly assigned to complete VR training with either VR objects that perceptually match the test
objects (e.g., same color, shape, size; Matched Objects, n = 20) or VR objects that are not perceptually similar
to the test objects (e.g., different color, shape, size; Different Objects, n = 20). To evaluate Aim 3, all
participants and an informant will complete interviews and questionnaires and participants will complete tests
of cognitive abilities. Associations between participant variables and VR Training results will be explored. If
our hypothesis is supported and results show that training effects generalize from virtual to real tasks in our
sample, then VR training of custom and individualized tasks will be investigated in a future randomized,
controlled clinical trial for maintaining and improving functional abilities in people with mild to moderate AD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9945007
- **Project number:** 1R21AG066771-01
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Tania Giovannetti
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $241,373
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-15 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9945007

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9945007, Improving Everyday Task Performance through Repeated Practice in Virtual Reality (1R21AG066771-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9945007. Licensed CC0.

---

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