Welcome to the Functional Simulated Technology Task


Online shopping activity
Online bill pay activity
Movie Tickets (Coming soon)
University of Utah: Occupational Therapy

Purpose

The Functional Simulated Technology Tasks (FSTT) was created to offer OTs a new way to assess cognition, specifically, the executive functions needed to complete more complex tasks. These tasks allow clients to participate in simulated, novel, tasks related to real-life demands. Information gathered during these tasks can be utilized by therapists to better assist their client in actual day to day activities that require the same skills. These tasks are unique in that they utilize web-based technology, a feature that is currently limited in most occupational therapy assessments and intervention tools.

Background

The FSTT activities were developed following the format utilized by the Performance Assessment of Self Care Skills (PASS), an occupation-based performance measure (Rogers, JC & Holm, MB © 1989, 1994). Additional information on this assessment can be acquired by contacting the PASS authors or through OT literature (Holm & Rogers, 1999).

The developers of the simulated online activities followed the protocol offered by the authors of the PASS for developing a new item. Among the documents needed for the activities you will find the instructions and a score sheet. Both of these follow the PASS documentation and scoring format. For scoring details, please reference PASS Guidelines. We are currently conducting research to evaluate the inter-rater reliability and content validity of these items. You can find information on the preliminary data in Cardell, B., Swain, L. J., Burnett, A. (2013). Construct validity of the functionally simulated technology task: An exploratory study. Occupational Therapy in Health Care. 27(4) 345-354.


Functional Simulated Technology Tasks

Our goal is to develop several different technology based activities that simulate real world demands and are readily available for occupational therapists to use as part of an occupation-based practice. At this time there are two activities, with plans to add at least two additional.


On-line Bill Pay:
Client must find and navigate the website, manipulate print-outs of actual bills and credit cards, understand directions from the website, refer to the bills for information (account number, amounts due, etc.), enter information into the computer, and solve problems based on feedback from the website. If you are a first time user, you may want to review this cheat sheet (pdf download) before using the task with a client.

Print the following documents needed to utilize the simulated online bill pay activity:

  1. Instructions (pdf download) : this sheet lists the physical set up of the task, materials needed, and the verbal directions.
  2. Bills : there are four bills needed for the task. The two gas bills ( February (pdf download) , March (pdf download) ) look similar but they are two different months with different amounts due. The bills look nice when printed in color but are just as useful when printed in black and white.
  3. Credit cards : these should be printed in color for the best results. Once they are printed, cut out the card and paste/tape the two sides together. Printing the credit cards on card stock and/or laminating them will allow you to use the same cards long term.
  4. If you plan on using this assessment with multiple clients on one computer, you may consider turning off auto complete or auto fill options on your internet browser. This will prevent past assessment entries from automatically popping up. This is done differently with every browser.


On-line Shopping:
Client must manipulate and make decisions pertaining to shopping for a specific type of clothing. This requires finding and navigating the website, searching for the correct products, selecting items (based on sizing, pricing, color, and type of clothing), and correctly entering all information into the computer in order to complete the purchase.

Print the following documents needed to utilize the simulated online shopping activity:

  1. Instructions (pdf download): this sheet lists the physical set up of the task, materials needed, and the verbal directions.
  2. Dress Code (pdf download): the original case used for the shopping task requires the client to refer to the school dress code before purchasing uniforms. Be sure you are familiar with the restrictions of the dress code so you can properly cue the client and clothes are chosen.
  3. Credit card (pdf download): this should be printed in color for the best results. Once it is printed, cut out the card and paste/tape the two sides together. Printing the credit card on card stock and/or laminating it will allow you to use the same card long term. If you also use the online bill pay, this credit card is the same American Express used during that task.
  4. If you plan on using this activity with multiple clients on one computer there are two things to consider. Once you have finished using the site with a client be sure to empty the shopping cart prior to using it again. Also you may consider turning off auto complete or auto fill options on your internet browser. This will prevent past assessment entries from automatically popping up. This is done differently with every browser.
  5. Other Online Shopping Resources:

On-line Movie Tickets (Coming soon):
Client must manipulate and make decisions pertaining to buying tickets for a movie. This requires finding a movie with the appropriate rating and purchasing tickets at a certain time and correctly entering all information into the computer in order to complete the purchase.

Holm, M.B., & Rogers, J.C. (1999). Performance assessment of self-care skills. In B.J. Hemphill-Pearson (Ed.), Assessments in Occupational Therapy Mental Health: An integrative approach (pp. 117-124). Thorofare, NJ: SLACK Incorporated.