Psychological Smartphone App Just as Accurate as Laboratory Test

Your smartphone apps may be smarter than you first thought. New research shows that a psychological app test is as accurate as a laboratory test.

The app, which is meant for dichotic listening, is called iDichotic. It was launched on the App Store in 2011, where it can be downloaded for free.

Dichotic listening is normally used in the laboratory to measure brain function. It essentially presents each ear with a different syllable at the same time--one to the left ear and one to the right. The listener then has to say which of the two syllables seems clearest. The test indicates which side of the brain is most active during language processing.

Only a year after it was made available, 1,000 people had downloaded the app, and roughly half of them sent in their test results. The researchers, led by Josef Bless, then analyzed the first 167 results they received and compared them with the results of 76 individuals tested in laboratories in Norway and Sweden.

The outcome was striking. They found that the results from the app were just as reliable as those from the controlled laboratory test. In other words, smartphones could potentially be used as a tool for psychological testing.

Yet the researchers didn't only focus on this one aspect of dichotic listening. They also developed a special version of iDichotic for patients with schizophrenia who suffer from auditory hallucinations. The newly created app can help train patients to improve their focus, so that when they hear voices they can better shut them out.

Needless to say, these findings have huge implications for the use of smartphones in the future. Researchers could develop apps to take samples and surveys from a broad population, or develop tools to help patients.

The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Cognition.