Automatic and effortful memory processes in elderly persons with organic brain pathology

This study investigated the automatic and effortful memory encoding model of Hasher and Zacks (1979) and the potential it may hold for aiding in the differentiation between aging-related memory decline and dementia. College students, normal elders, and dementia patients were compared on a 96-item pi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of gerontology (Kirkwood) 1991-07, Vol.46 (4), p.P137
Main Authors: Rohling, M L, Ellis, N R, Scogin, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging - psychology
Alcohol Amnestic Disorder - psychology
Alzheimer Disease - psychology
Dementia - psychology
Dementia, Multi-Infarct - psychology
Humans
Memory
Mental Recall
Middle Aged
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Summary:This study investigated the automatic and effortful memory encoding model of Hasher and Zacks (1979) and the potential it may hold for aiding in the differentiation between aging-related memory decline and dementia. College students, normal elders, and dementia patients were compared on a 96-item picturebook task utilizing measures of free recall, recognition accuracy, memory for location, and memory for frequency. There were no differences between students and elders on any of the dependent measures. However, differences were found between elders and patients on each measure, and a discriminant function correctly classified the two groups with 93.3% accuracy. Subsequent discriminant analysis found patients could be correctly classified into diagnostic subgroups, i.e., dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT), multi-infarct dementia (MID), and Korsakoff's disease (KD) with 80.8% accuracy. The model holds promise as a guide for clinicians who are asked to make differential diagnoses of memory-impaired individuals.
ISSN:0022-1422
2331-3323
DOI:10.1093/geronj/46.4.P137