| Publication Abstract Display | | Type: Published Abstract | | Title: Self-generation enhances verbal recall in individuals infected with HIV. | | Authors: Weber E, Woods SP, Kellogg EJ, Grant I, Basso MR, and the HNRP Group | | Year: 2011 | | Publication: National Academy of Neuropsychology, 31st Annual Conference, Marco Island, FL | | Volume: Issue: Pages: | | Abstract:Objective: Self-generation is theorized to improve verbal recall by way of deepening the encoding of material to be learned. The present study explored the effectiveness of this approach in persons with HIV infection, who commonly evidence moderate deficits in strategic encoding and retrieval.
Method: Participants included 56 HIV-infected and 46 seronegative individuals, who completed a memory encoding experiment in which they received a paired-associate learning task in both self-generation and didactic conditions, administered in a randomized order. In the didactic condition, participants were presented with completed word pairs that they were instructed to read aloud. In the self-generation condition, participates were asked to generate the second word of the pair based on its first letter and the given category (e.g., synonym). The primary dependent variables of interest were the 20-minute delayed free recall scores from the self-generation and didactic conditions.
Results: A repeated measures ANOVA revealed main effects of HIV status (p=0.048) and encoding condition (p<0.001), but no interaction between HIV status and encoding condition (p>0.10). Planned comparisons showed that HIV+ individuals recalled fewer words overall compared to their seronegative counterparts (p<0.05), and that both groups recalled significantly more words learned in the self-generation condition (p<0.001). Although the interaction term was non-significant, HIV-infected individuals recalled significantly fewer words versus the seronegative group in the didactic condition (p<0.05; d=0.58), but performed comparably in the self-generation condition (p>0.10; d=0.26).
Conclusions: Findings suggest that self-generation strategies may improve verbal recall in individuals with HIV infection and may therefore be an appropriate and potentially effective cognitive rehabilitation tool in this population. |
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