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Abstract:
Abstract: Among children with closed-head injury (CHI),
impairments of memory and inhibition are common cognitive sequelae
(Levin, et al, 1996). However, relationships between deficits in
these domains have not been explored in this population. The false
memory paradigm (Roediger & McDermott, 1995) offers means of
exploring such relationships. Memory models assuming spreading
activation among semantic nodes predict that children unable to
sustain activation would show abnormally poor recall. Children who
normally maintain activation, but have impaired inhibitory
processing might show increased likelihood of false recall of a
not-presented critical target (CT) from lists comprising associates
of the CT because spreading activation from related nodes causes
activation of the CT. Without normal inhibition, this would cause
"recall" of the CT. Five children with severe CHI and 15 control
children studied 14 false memory lists. RESULTS: Two children with
CHI were below the mean and range of the controls for words
recalled and for % CT falsely recalled suggesting an inability to
sustain activation. The remaining children with CHI performed
normally on recall. However, two of these children were above the
mean and range for % CT recalled. This is the pattern predicted
from normal activation in the absence of normal inhibition. We
conclude that memory processes in children with CHI can interact
with inhibitory processes to create different patterns of
impairment in veridical recall. These findings have implications
for rehabilitation. Supported by NS-21889.
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