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The biasing effect of verbal labels on memory for ambiguous figures in patients with progressive dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2009

Arne L. Ostergaard ,
William C. Heindel  and
Jane S. Paulsen
Arne L. Ostergaard
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
William C. Heindel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
Jane S. Paulsen
Affiliation:
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego, CA 92161 Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, California 92093
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Abstract

This experiment investigated the effects of verbal labels on recognition memory for ambiguous visual figures in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), patients with Huntington's disease (HD), and matched normal control subjects. The study employed ambiguous figures that could be interpreted in two different ways. During the study phase each figure was presented together with a verbal label that corresponded to one interpretation of the figure. After a 30-min retention interval a recognition memory test was given during which the study figures and distractor figures were presented one at a time without verbal labels. For each study figure two distractor figures were employed, each corresponding to a different interpretation of the study figure. The patients' overall recognition memory performance was severely impaired compared to control subjects. However, all subject groups tended to produce responses and response latencies to distractor items that were consistent with the verbal labels presented during the study phase. This bias effect occurred in the AD patients despite the fact that their recognition memory performance was at chance level. Indeed, there was no significant difference in the bias evidenced by the AD and HD patients and their respective matched control subjects. The bias effects were obtained in an explicit memory task, and the findings are discussed in terms of unconscious influences on explicit memory processes. (JINS, 1995, I, 271–280.)

Keywords

MemoryDementiaBias
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , May 1995 , pp. 271 - 280
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 1995

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