Can a virtual environment enhance understanding of hoarding deficits? A pilot investigation.

This pilot study tested the utility of a virtual environment for assessing cognitive deficits characteristic of hoarding. A sample representing a broad spectrum of hoarding traits ( = 20) was assessed using self-report measures of information processing skills and emotional experience, and placed in a virtually simulated house that contained cluttered spaces and clean spaces. Information-processing significantly differed between high-hoarding and low-hoarding groups, with the high-hoarding group showing increased proneness to emotional attachment and information processing difficulties in the cluttered environment.