The role of retrieval inhibition in the associative memory impairment of schizophrenia

AhnAllen, Christopher G.; Nestor, Paul G.; McCarley, Robert W.; Shenton, Martha E.

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2006.07.001

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Volume 150, Issue 1 , Pages 43-50, 28 February 2007

The role of retrieval inhibition in the associative memory impairment of schizophrenia

Christopher G. AhnAllen
- Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, United States
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, VA Boston Healthcare System–Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 940 Belmont St., Psychiatry 116A, Brockton, MA 02301, United States
Paul G. Nestor
- Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, United States
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, VA Boston Healthcare System–Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 940 Belmont St., Psychiatry 116A, Brockton, MA 02301, United States
- Corresponding author. Psychiatry 116A, Brockton VAMC, 940 Belmont St., Brockton, MA 02301, United States. Tel.: +1 508 583 4500x61506; fax: +1 508 580 0059.
Robert W. McCarley
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, VA Boston Healthcare System–Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 940 Belmont St., Psychiatry 116A, Brockton, MA 02301, United States
Martha E. Shenton
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, VA Boston Healthcare System–Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 940 Belmont St., Psychiatry 116A, Brockton, MA 02301, United States
- Surgical Planning Laboratory, MRI Division, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 75 Francis St., L1050, Boston, MA 02115, United States

Received 23 May 2005; received in revised form 13 February 2006; accepted 4 July 2006.

Abstract

To examine retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) in schizophrenia, subjects studied category–exemplar words taken from either strong or weak categories, and then practiced retrieval by completing category word-stems on half of the word pairs. Patients had reduced recall and recognition, but showed the expected RIF effect of better recall of unpracticed items from unpracticed categories than for unpracticed items from practiced categories. By contrast, patients and controls showed differing RIF for recognition as a function of categorical dominance: whereas controls showed RIF only for dominant category exemplar word pairs, patients showed RIF for both dominant and weak categories. Different patterns of baseline practiced retrieval for weak associate pairs in schizophrenia may explain this finding. The results failed to support faulty RIF in the associative memory impairment of schizophrenia.

Keywords: Retrieval-induced forgetting, Recognition memory, Categorical dominance