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Abstract:
Prospective memory, or memory for intentions, has been
defined as the ability to remember to complete a task at a
specified time in the future. Deficits in prospective memory have
been examined in the health elderly, individuals with Alzheimer's
and in individuals with traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately, it
is generally examined with a single item, such as returning a
postcard, or with a unidimensional test that has little
demonstrated generalization to daily life, such as responding to a
target item on a computer screen. Previous studies (Raskin &
Buckheit, 1998) demonstrated specific deficits in prospective
memory in individuals with traumatic brain injury. However, this
test was long and cumbersome and not appropriate for widespread
clinical use. The current study developed a functional test of
prospective memory. This test includes eight items. Half of the
items require an oral response and half of the items require a
written (action) response. Half of the items involve time-based
cues ("In exactly two minutes....") and half involve associative
cues ("When I hand you the red pen...."). All items have been shown
to have good face validity. There are two forms of the test and
reliability was 0.80. This test has been given to 20 young normal
subjects, 20 healthy elderly subjects and 10 subjects with
Alzheimer's disease. The young normals scored significantly better
than either of the other groups. The healthy elderly scored
significantly better than those with Alzheimer's. However, an
analysis of errors revealed that the healthy elderly were most
likely to make errors of retrospective recall (i.e., remembering
that a task needed to be performed but forgetting what it was)
wheras those with Alzheimer's made more errors of prospective
memory (i.e., forgetting a task needed to be performed).
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