Image source: www.uib.no/news/nyheter/2013/02/new-brain-test-app

It seems that there is a mobile phone application for everything — from financial transactions to multi-player games. Now, you can use your smartphone for psychological testing.

Scientists in Norway have developed an app that is similar to a program psychologists use in the lab to measure brain function. A listener hears two different syllables in each ear at the same time, and says which one sounds the clearest. According to research team member Josef Bless, “the test indicates which side of the brain is most active during language processing.”

More than 1,000 people have downloaded the free app, and half have sent their test results to the researchers.

“The results from the app were as reliable as those of the controlled lab tests,” says Bless. He expects to see more psychological research teams using mobile apps to collect data.

The researchers have also developed a version of the software for people who suffer from auditory hallucinations. The scientists say the mobile app helps patients learn to ignore the voices in their head.

The report on the brain-test app appears in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

source: Voice of America