Susan ayers cambridge handbook of psychology he

• Working memory (sometimes called short-term memory), which
refers to processes for holding and manipulating material
in a temporary store, usually for seconds or a few minutes
(e.g. remembering a telephone number shortly after hearing it).
• Procedural memory, which usually refers to the ability to acquire
new skills, or use previously acquired skills, be they motor or
linguistic (e.g. learning to ride a bicycle).
• Perceptual memory, which usually refers to the ability to retain
the perceptual features of a stimulus, and is thought to underlie
learning that leads to the perceptual identification of stimuli
(e.g. seeing a new model of a car and being able to identify it
better the second time round).
In the case of memory processes, while it is generally accepted that
encoding, consolidation and retrieval represent important stages of
memory processing, there are divergent views as to the specific
mechanisms that underlie such stages (Meeter & Murre, 2004). The
‘standard consolidation’ model (Squire et al., 2004) takes the view
that while the medial temporal lobe plays a part in the laying down of
new memories, their stored representation is eventually subserved by
cortical mechanisms, especially those in the neocortex. By contrast,
the multiple-trace model (Nadel et al., 2000) regards the medial temporal
lobe as being critical for the retention and recollection of all
episodic memories, no matter how long ago they have been stored.
Although precise figures are not available, there are considerable
numbers of memory impaired people in society. Some 10% of
people over 65 years of age have dementia and some 36% of
people with severe head injury will have permanent memory
impairments (see ‘Dementias’ and ‘Head injury’). Add to these
figures those whose memory deficits result from Korsakoff’s syndrome,
encephalitis, anoxia, AIDS and so forth, and one can begin
to appreciate the enormity of the problem.
Assessment of memory should include both neuropsychological
and behavioural measures as it is important to identify cognitive
strengths and weaknesses and to identify the everyday problems
arising from memory impairment. Neuropsychological tests
should include general intellectual functioning, language, perception
and executive functioning as well as detailed memory assessments.
Immediate and delayed memory, nonverbal and verbal
memory, recall and recognition, semantic and episodic memory,
REFERENCES
Baddeley, A. D. & Wilson, B. A. (1994).
When implicit learning fails: amnesia and
the problem of error elimination.
Neuropsychologia, 32, 53–68.
Craik, F. I. M. & Tulving, E. (2000). Oxford
handbook of memory. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Kapur, N., Glisky, E. L. & Wilson, B. A. (2004).
External memory aids and computers in
memory rehabilitation. In A. D. Baddeley,
M. D. Kopelman & B. A. Wilson. The
essential handbook of memory disorders for
clinicians (pp. 301–27). Chichester:
John Wiley.
Kapur, N. & Graham, K. S. (2002).
Recovery of memory function in
neurological disease. In A. D.
Baddeley, M. Kopelman & B. A.
Wilson (Eds.). Handbook of memory
disorders (pp. 233–48). Chichester:
John Wiley.
Meeter, M. & Murre, J. M. (2004).
Consolidation of long-term
memory: evidence and alternatives.
Psychological Bulletin, 130, 843–57.
Nadel, L., Samsonovich, A., Ryan, L. &
Moscovitch, M. (2000). Multiple
trace theory of human memory:
computational, neuroimaging and
neuropsychological results. Hippocampus,
10, 352–68.
Rajah, M. N. & McIntosh, A. R. (2005).
Overlap in the functional neural systems
involved in semantic and episodic memory
implicit memory (remembering without awareness) and new learning
will all need to be assessed (see Wilson, 2004 for further discussion).
More functional and behavioural measures will identify
everyday problems causing concern and distress. These measures
include observations in real life settings, interviewing patients, their
relatives and care staff and the collection of information from such
self report measures as diaries, checklists, questionnaires and rating
scales (see ‘Neuropsychological assessment’).
Restoration of memory functioning or retraining of memory
following brain damage appear to be unachievable goals although
some recovery may occur for a period of years (Kapur & Graham,
2002; Wilson, 2003). Consequently, rehabilitation for memoryimpaired
people focuses on environmental adaptations, compensatory
strategies, improving learning and helping them to make
better use of their residual skills. For those who are very severely
intellectually impaired, structuring the environment, to reduce
the need to remember, is probably the most effective method.
Examples include labelling doors, cupboards and drawers, drawing
coloured lines from one place to another and positioning material
so it cannot be missed. External memory aids are probably the
most beneficial of all therapeutic approaches, although many
memory-impaired people find it difficult to use these aids efficiently
and it requires considerable ingenuity to teach their use (Sohlberg
& Mateer, 1989). Kapur et al. (2004) cover aspects of external and
compensatory aids in some detail. One of the recent developments
for improving learning in amnesic subjects is the errorless
learning approach (Baddeley & Wilson, 1994; Wilson et al., 1994)
whereby it was shown that preventing errors during the learning
process led to improved learning by amnesic subjects. Helping
people to make better use of their residual, albeit damaged,
memory skills can be achieved through the use of mnemonics
and study or rehearsal strategies (see ‘Neuropsychological
rehabilitation’).
Finally, many memory-impaired people are anxious and isolated;
so too are their families. Rehabilitation should address these anxieties
through anxiety management programmes, information and
counselling and perhaps through groups for patients and/or their
relatives. Tate (2004) addresses these issues and other aspects of
rehabilitation for people with amnesia.
retrieval. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,
17, 470–82.
Schacter, D. L. & Tulving, E. (1994). Memory
Systems 1994. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Sohlberg, M. M. & Mateer, C. (1989).
Training use of compensatory memory
books: a three-stage behavioural
approach. Journal of Clinical and
Experimental Neuropsychology, 11,
871–91.
Squire, L. R., Stark, C. E. & Clark, R. E. (2004).
The medial temporal lobe. Annual Review
of Neuroscience, 27, 279–306.
Tate, R. (2004). Emotional and social
consequences of memory disorders.
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B. A. Wilson (Eds.). The essential handbook
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