The use of self-generation procedures facilitates verbal memory in individuals with seizure disorders.
The efficacy of a self-generation encoding procedure in facilitating the encoding and retrieval of verbal memories was compared with the didactic presentation of information in individuals with seizure disorders. Through a within-subject design, 87 patients (25 left temporal seizure onset, 29 right temporal, 8 frontal, and 25 psychogenic nonepileptic seizures) received a self-generation learning condition and a didactic learning condition and were subsequently tested for verbal paired associate free recall, cued recall, and recognition memory. All patient groups benefited from the use of the self-generation condition relative to the didactic condition. Better performance occurred with the self-generation procedure for cued recall and recognition memory test performance, but not free recall. Individuals with a left temporal seizure onset (patients with the poorest memory performance on the didactic condition) benefited the most from the self-generation condition. A memory encoding strategy that actively involves patient participation enhances memory performance.
Schefft
Bruce K
BK
Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0376, USA. scheffbk@ucmail.uc.edu
Dulay
Mario F
MF
Fargo
Jamison D
JD
Szaflarski
Jerzy P
JP
Yeh
Hwa-shain
HS
Privitera
Michael D
MD
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*