Decay and interference processes in short-term retention of normal and brain-damaged patients.

The present study examined decay and interference mechanisms in short-term verbal retention in brain damaged patients with and without clinical memory impairment. Petersons' distractor technique was modified for this purpose. Results indicated that decay and impaired consolidation of memory traces was greater in organic amnesics, accounting for a greater degree of forgetting than proactive interference. Absence of an interference function is discussed in terms of the modified technique utilizing repeated trials to recall and more rigorously eliminating covert rehearsal, in addition to employing a more representative sample of organic amnesics than in provious studies.