Bier Nathalie, Van Der Linden Martial, Gagnon Lise, Desrosiers Johanne, Adam Stephane, Louveaux Stephanie, Saint-Mleux Julie
Research Center on Aging, CSSS-Sherbrooke Geriatric University Institute Universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada.
Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2008 Jun;18(3):343-71. doi: 10.1080/09602010701694723.
This study compared the efficacy of five learning methods in the acquisition of face-name associations in early dementia of Alzheimer type (AD). The contribution of error production and implicit memory to the efficacy of each method was also examined. Fifteen participants with early AD and 15 matched controls were exposed to five learning methods: spaced retrieval, vanishing cues, errorless, and two trial-and-error methods, one with explicit and one with implicit memory task instructions. Under each method, participants had to learn a list of five face-name associations, followed by free recall, cued recall and recognition. Delayed recall was also assessed. For AD, results showed that all methods were efficient but there were no significant differences between them. The number of errors produced during the learning phases varied between the five methods but did not influence learning. There were no significant differences between implicit and explicit memory task instructions on test performances. For the control group, there were no differences between the five methods. Finally, no significant correlations were found between the performance of the AD participants in free recall and their cognitive profile, but generally, the best performers had better remaining episodic memory. Also, case study analyses showed that spaced retrieval was the method for which the greatest number of participants (four) obtained results as good as the controls. This study suggests that the five methods are effective for new learning of face-name associations in AD. It appears that early AD patients can learn, even in the context of error production and explicit memory conditions.
本研究比较了五种学习方法在阿尔茨海默病型（AD）早期痴呆患者中建立面孔-名字联想的效果。同时还考察了错误产生和内隐记忆对每种方法效果的影响。15名早期AD患者和15名匹配的对照组被试接受了五种学习方法：间隔检索、消失线索、无错误以及两种试误方法，其中一种带有外显记忆任务指令，另一种带有内隐记忆任务指令。在每种方法下，被试都要学习一组包含五个面孔-名字联想的列表，随后进行自由回忆、线索回忆和识别测试。还评估了延迟回忆。对于AD患者，结果显示所有方法都有效，但它们之间没有显著差异。在学习阶段产生的错误数量在五种方法之间有所不同，但不影响学习效果。在内隐和外显记忆任务指令下的测试表现没有显著差异。对于对照组，五种方法之间没有差异。最后，AD患者在自由回忆中的表现与其认知概况之间没有显著相关性，但总体而言，表现最佳者的情景记忆保留得更好。此外，个案研究分析表明，间隔检索是有最多参与者（四名）取得与对照组相当结果的方法。本研究表明，这五种方法对于AD患者新建立面孔-名字联想是有效的。看来早期AD患者即使在有错误产生和外显记忆条件下也能学习。
