title: Psychological factors in retrograde amnesia: self-deception and a broken heart.
abstract: We explored potential contributing psychological factors in a patient ('XF') with focal retrograde amnesia, within the framework proposed by Kopelman (2000, Cognitive Neuropsychology, 17, 585). In particular, we investigated the psychological trait of self-enhancement. We constructed a self-report questionnaire measure of self-enhancement and compared XF's score on this measure with the scores of 61 control participants. XF was found to have a significantly greater level of self-enhancement than the entire control group, and also than a smaller sample of age- and sex-matched controls. We propose that heightened self-enhancement may reflect a premorbid tendency that potentially predisposes individuals to develop retrograde amnesia.
authors.affiliation: School of Behavioral Science, Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Amee D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Baird
authors.forename: Ryan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: McKay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000648:Amnesia, Retrograde / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires