Speed of scanning in primary memory in persons with dementia of the Alzheimer type.
The nature of the search of primary memory by persons with a presumptive diagnosis of mild Alzheimer's disease (DAT) was compared with that of normal elderly and young persons using the Sternberg (1966) paradigm. DAT subjects evidenced a substantial deficit in the speed of scanning in primary memory and a deficit in at least one other stage of processing. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the decline in memory performance evidenced by persons with DAT may be attributable to an increase in the time requirements of mnemonic processing.
Boaz
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Department of Community Mental Health, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa 33612-3899.
Denney
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011930:Reaction Time; D012016:Reference Values