Person recognition and approach behaviors among individuals with probable Alzheimer's disease.
Sixteen residents at a group home for individuals with probable Alzheimer's disease took part in a person-recognition study. The stimulus was an unfamiliar individual to whom they were exposed for 8 weeks. For nine participants, approach tendency increased from Week 1 to the end of Week 4. Neither total time of exposure to a new person, nor cognitive status (by Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] score) predicted changes in approach behaviors over time. An innovative strategy for indexing person recognition is presented for possible use in future research studies with larger samples.
Department of Sociology, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, USA.
Diane Leigh
DL
Sotnak
Lauren S
LS
Seifert
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D006801:Humans; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012919:Social Behavior