Long-term retention of transient news events.

Many retrospective analyses of remote memory have demonstrated recency effects in that memory for events proximal to the time of testing is superior to memory for events from remote time periods. However, the rate at which information decays over time and the specific pattern of forgetting may vary depending upon the distinct attributes of stimuli used as indices of memory. Studies examining long-term forgetting of well rehearsed, conceptually integrated information underscore preservation of remote events, some of which are thought to be permanently stored in memory. A different pattern of forgetting emerges in relation to recall of discrete facts whereby recall declines according to a negatively accelerated decay curve. In the current study long-term retention of transient news events was examined. Results were examined in relation to the effects of age and sex. All age groups demonstrated recency effects in that events from the recent past were recalled better than remote events. Age did not exert a negative influence on recall of remote or recent events with the exception of younger participants who did not recall items predating their dates of birth. Older female participants were less adept at recalling very old events than their male counterparts.

MMPI/MMPI-2: comparisons of amnesic patients.

The amnesic population provides a unique opportunity to examine the reliability of clinical tests because amnesics do not consciously recollect initial testing sessions. In this study, amnesic subjects were studied to examine the reliability between the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the MMPI-2. Findings indicated that there were no statistical differences between versions of the MMPI and further revealed that many of the scales were significantly correlated. Amnesic patients produced elevated scores on subscales two (depression) and eight (schizophrenia), not unlike various other groups of neurologically impaired individuals. This indicates that MMPI and MMPI-2 scores in these patient populations may reflect the medical and psychosocial effects of brain damage rather than premorbid personality dysfunction. A close evaluation of amnesics' performance, in conjunction with the critical items they endorsed, offers insight into the personality traits of the amnesic patient population. The relative stability of performance across personality tests administered over several weeks is relevant to the formation and stability of the amnesic's concept of self.

Accelerated forgetting in association with temporal lobe epilepsy and paraneoplastic encephalitis.

The association between epilepsy and amnesia is studied in patient J.T. who presented with a very unusual pattern of memory loss with retention of information for hours to days but rapid forgetting of information that exceeded this time frame. J.T.'s unusual memory profile was studied with several tests administered over week-long intervals of time. There was evidence that his retention decreased in conjunction with increased seizures. During a trial of paraldehyde, a decrease in seizure frequency was associated with enhanced memory. J.T.'s memory problem was unlike that described in prototypical cases of amnesia. His day-long retention of new information alongside his absolute loss of that information days later is consistent with the idea that consolidation is a process that occurs over lengthy periods of time.