Abstract
Korsakoff patients are generally agreed to be impaired in conscious recollection, but whether their implicit memory performance is also affected is less certain. A deficit in novelty dependent encoding (i.e., elaboration learning) could account for both types of impairments and predicts a reduced implicit word frequency effect in the patients. This effect was examined with word stem completion in nineteen Korsakoff patients and nineteen healthy controls. The word frequency effect was larger in controls than in patients in absolute terms, but not reliably so. It is concluded that elaboration learning may be spared to some degree in Korsakoff amnesia, but, in line with the original reasoning by Korsakoff (1889/1996), it may only be engaged by the patients when they are continuously prompted to do so.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.