The impact of developmental dyslexia on workplace cognition: evidence from a virtual reality environment

James H. Smith‐Spark; Gordon, Rebecca; Jansari, Ashok · 2022 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1080/0144929x.2022.2152367

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Summary

This study investigates the impact of developmental dyslexia on workplace cognition, specifically focusing on executive function and prospective memory (PM). While cognitive deficits associated with dyslexia persist into adulthood, there is a lack of empirical research regarding their specific effects in employment settings. The authors aimed to address this gap by using a virtual reality environment to simulate office tasks, thereby providing an ecologically valid assessment of how dyslexia influences complex cognitive processes required in professional contexts. The researchers employed a between-subjects design involving 35 university students: eight adults with confirmed dyslexia and 27 adults without dyslexia. Participants completed the Jansari Assessment of Executive Function (JEF©), a computer-based virtual office task where they roleplayed an office assistant on their first day. The assessment measured eight cognitive constructs: planning, prioritization, selective-thinking, creative-thinking, adaptive-thinking, multi-tasking, and three types of prospective memory (action-based, event-based, and time-based). To verify group allocation, participants also completed standardized reading and spelling tests. Statistical analyses included multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to compare group performance and Pearson’s correlations to examine relationships between literacy skills and cognitive performance. The results indicated that the group with dyslexia performed significantly worse overall than the non-dyslexic group. Specifically, adults with dyslexia scored lower on two executive function measures: planning and selective-thinking. They also demonstrated significant deficits in two prospective memory measures: event-based and time-based PM. No significant group differences were found for prioritization, adaptive-thinking, action-based PM, or creative-thinking, although the dyslexic group showed a non-significant trend toward higher scores in creative-thinking. Furthermore, significant positive correlations were observed between reading/spelling abilities and performance on planning, prioritization, event-based PM, and time-based PM tasks, suggesting that literacy deficits are linked to broader cognitive challenges in the workplace. The findings highlight that dyslexia affects workplace cognition beyond literacy, particularly impacting planning and the ability to remember future intentions, especially when cues are time-based or event-based. The study suggests that workers with dyslexia may benefit from strategies that convert time-based or event-based tasks into action-based ones, which rely less on executive resources. Additionally, the non-significant advantage in creative-thinking points to a potential area of strength. These results have practical implications for workplace accommodations, suggesting that support should target executive function and PM deficits through tailored software or job crafting. The study also underscores the utility of virtual reality methodologies for assessing real-world cognitive demands in neurodiverse populations.

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• cognitive capacity variation