Intact text-specific reading skill in amnesia.
Amnesic patients were studied to determine whether the acquisition and retention of item-specific skills can be supported by nondeclarative (implicit) memory. In Experiment 1, subjects read 2 different passages 3 times in succession. Reading speed improved at a similar rate in both amnesic patients and normal subjects and was specific to the text that was read. In Experiment 2, amnesic patients and normal subjects read a passage 3 successive times and then reread the same passage after a 0-s, 10-min, 2-hr, or 1-day delay. In both groups, facilitation persisted for at least 10 min and disappeared within 2 hr. It is suggested that facilitated reading speed depends importantly on both semantic and perceptual information and that such information can be supported by nondeclarative memory.
Musen
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Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego, California 92161.
Shimamura
A P
AP
Squire
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LR
D000368:Aged; D000425:Alcohol Amnestic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D000647:Amnesia / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012153:Retention, Psychology