Memory deficits in psychiatric outpatients and affective ratings of positive and neutral lists of words.
The experimental findings on memory deficits from hospitalized psychiatric patients were applied to the recall and recognition memory of outpatients. Two positive and one list of 25 neutral words each were learned by the subjects for recognition and then rated as an orienting task during rehearsal for recall. On the first positive list, compared to 20 controls, the 7 patients showed substantial recall deficits, but recognition memory and affective ratings were relatively normal. On the subsequent positive list, outpatients' recall memory declined and did not recover after shifting to neutral words on the third list. There was little evidence for the build-up of interference, instead factors such as fatigue may affect patients' recall memory. Recognition memory showed signs of interference contributing to the patients' deficits. Psychiatric outpatients have significant recall deficits, less severe recognition deficits, and attitude problems that may contribute to the high rate of readmissions.
Ceply
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Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
Tyson
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PD
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001288:Attention; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning