title: Absence of size congruency effects in amnesic patients' recognition: a failure of perceptually based recollection.
abstract: This study examined the status of recollection in amnesia when recollection is supported by perceptual rather than conceptual processes. Two experiments investigated the size congruency effect-the advantage in recognition of patterns presented in the same size, rather than in different sizes-at study and test. In Experiment 1, the authors used a remember-know paradigm in nonamnesic individuals and demonstrated that the size congruency effect was due to enhanced recollection. In Experiment 2, the authors examined whether amnesic patients would show a size congruency effect when their overall level of performance was matched to that of controls. Amnesic patients failed to show a size congruency effect. These findings provide evidence for a disproportionate disruption in recollection compared with familiarity in amnesia, even when recollection is supported by perceptual processes.
authors.affiliation: Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Massachusetts 02130, USA. verf@bu.edu
authors.forename: Mieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verfaellie
authors.forename: Shaun P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Margaret M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Keane
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000425:Alcohol Amnestic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012858:Size Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology