Psychology Paper #2 (Amnesia)

Retrograde amnesia is a form of amnesia where patients are unable to remember things, people, places, etc. that happened before they suffered from amnesia. Susie claims that she was in a car accident a few months ago and suffered a severe blow to the head, and now she cannot remember much from the months before the accident. Susie also mentions that she used to be a very good artist but now when she picks up a paintbrush, it feels unfamiliar to her and she can no longer draw adequately. However, she can still recall facts about art history. After hearing this testimony from Susie I have come to the conclusion she is suffering from retrograde amnesia. I would also say that Susie’s nondeclarative LTM seems to be affected the most. Nondeclarative memory (also called implicit memory) is memory that is independent from conscious recollection or without conscious recall. This type of memory is where you would find your motor skills, and since Susie says she can remember facts about art but does not remember how to draw or paint well, leads me to believe that here implicit memory is affected more then her explicit memory. Tom on the other hand is suffering from anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is when someone is unable to recall new memories or events after the event that caused their amnesia. Tom says that after his surgery he does not remember anyone coming to visit him, even though his friends and family insist they came many times. When he wakes up in the morning, he has trouble remembering what happened the day before, and although he sees pictures of himself at his sisters wedding when they talk Tom asks her how the wedding planning is going, even though the wedding has already happened. After hearing these facts about Tom’s condition, I came to the conclusion that he is indeed suffering from anterograde amnesia. I would also conclude that Tom’s declarative LTM seems to be most affected by his surgery. Declarative memory (also called explicit memory) is memory of facts and experiences that some can consciously know or declare. Tom has not shown any signs of his motor skills declining but it is clear that he has trouble remembering events that he was present for and fully conscious. For example, he does not remember the numerous times his friends and family came to see him in the hospital, and he also does not remember that he attended his sisters wedding. He does not even remember the wedding even happened. After examining Tom’s symptoms, I can say that his explicit memory has been affected more then his implicit memory. Have you ever been around a grandparent, and they are telling a story, but sometimes they seem to forget parts of the story? This is a common effect called theory of decay. The theory of decay can be said simply that over time memory fades. Peoples LTM's seems to be stronger when they are younger opposed to when they are older. We still do not fully understand why this happens but neuroscientists are getting closer to solving the mystery of the physical storage of memory and are increasing our understanding of how memory storage could decay. The theory of interference states that learning new items may interfere with retrieving others. There are two main kinds of interference, retroactive interference and proactive interference. Retroactive interference is the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information. This just states that it is hard to learn new material because old information is in the way. Proactive interference is the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. This states that it is difficult to remember old information because newly stored information is in the way.
The serial position effect states that we remember the first and last things we see. Interference plays a role in this because as you are trying to recall what you have just seen, words start flying around in your head and interfere with what you are trying to recall. Decay can also play a role for someone whose memory has decayed more then others. For that person the task of remembering a grocery list for example is more difficult due to the decay of their memory.
Amnesia and forgetting are not the same thing. Amnesia is caused by something. For example Susie and Tom are both suffering from amnesia because of their car accident and surgery. If these events had not happened Susie would still be able to paint and Tom would remember attending his sisters wedding. Another way that amnesia and forgetting are different is that when we forget, we are forgetting because the information is just not encoded well enough in our brains. Where as amnesia on the other hand, is excessive memory loss that is caused by physical injury to the brain or by some sort of psychological trauma.