FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Early prediction of mastery of a computerized functional skills training program in participants with mild cognitive impairment
Harvey et al., International Psychogeriatrics, 36(12), 1182–1193 (2024)
International Psychogeriatrics
Early prediction of mastery of a computerized functional skills training program in participants with mild cognitive impairment
SUMMARY
This study examined whether researchers could identify, at the beginning of FUNSAT™, which participants would eventually master all six technology-based functional skills. Seventy-two participants with normal cognition received FUNSAT™, while 92 participants with MCI received FUNSAT™ alone or combined with computerized cognitive training. Training was delivered fully remotely twice weekly for up to 12 weeks. Failure to master all tasks was associated with more baseline errors across the tasks, but not with slower baseline completion times.
Errors on the first ticket-purchase task uniquely distinguished later graduators from nongraduators, correctly classifying 94% of participants in the discriminant analysis; the receiver-operating-characteristic analysis yielded an area under the curve of 0.83. Nearly all participants with normal cognition and approximately 65% of participants with MCI mastered all tasks. The findings demonstrate a particularly useful strength of FUNSAT™: within roughly the first 15 minutes, its error data can identify people who may benefit from extra orientation, more feedback, smaller training increments, or a modified learning pathway—supporting earlier, more efficient personalization rather than waiting for failure at the end of training.
