Selective impairment of the retrieval of people's names: a case of category specificity.
Recent cases of 'proper names anomia' have been interpreted as arising from a category-specific recall deficit that is mediated either by the effects of 'uniqueness', or 'meaningfulness'. However, an alternative account is suggested by the report of a patient whose difficulties in naming familiar people arise from a selective learning impairment. The current case study presents data that are inconsistent with a learning interpretation of difficulties in naming people. We conclude that a dissociation exists between selective deficits affecting the learning and recall of people's names.
Department of Psychology, University of Exeter.
D M
DM
Harris
J
J
Kay
D000368:Aged; D000849:Anomia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009275:Names; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology