The selective impairment of arithmetical procedures.
The theoretical distinction between arithmetic facts and procedures was first made by Groen and Parkman (1972). This was confirmed with a neuropsychological single case described by Warrington (1982) who had impaired arithmetical facts but well preserved arithmetical procedures. Since this time there have been several patients described who showed a selective impairment of arithmetic facts. There have also been reports of cases with impaired arithmetical procedures. However, there has not yet been a case reported with the selective impairment of procedures in the context of intact arithmetic facts. This paper describes a patient, SR, with probable Alzheimer's dementia who had well preserved addition, multiplication and subtraction facts but who nevertheless had severe difficulties with a range of arithmetical procedures such as multidigit sums, decimals and fractions. The implications of this case for current theoretical models are discussed.
McNeil
Jane E
JE
Regional Neurological Rehabilitation Unit, Homerton Hospital, London, UK. jane.mcneil@homerton.nhs.uk
Burgess
Paul W
PW
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis