title: A diary study of action slips in healthy individuals.
abstract: Memory complaints following minor head injury or whiplash are common and often bear similarity to absent mindedness or action slips (Reason, 1979). We replicated Reason's study by asking 189 healthy volunteers to keep diaries of their action slips for a week. The mean number of slips was 6.4 (SD = 4.9). Perceived stress did not correlate with number of slips but there was a weak positive correlation between action slips and scores on a memory failures questionnaire. Memory diaries may be clinically useful when assessing individuals who worry about cognitive sequelae of minor injuries. Diaries clarify the nature of the complaints and may have therapeutic value by demonstrating that the memory slips are less frequent than estimated by the patients.
authors.affiliation: Landspítali-University Hospital and University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland. marijon@landspitali.is
authors.forename: María K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Jónsdóttir
authors.forename: Steinunn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adólfsdóttir
authors.forename: Rúna Dögg
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Cortez
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gunnarsdóttir
authors.forename: Agústa Hlín
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Gústafsdóttir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires