Memory cues, recall strategies, and Alzheimer's disease

This paper reports on partial findings from research exploring (1) how individuals with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) use memory cues in the form of representations (tokens) to recall life stories, and (2) ways in which representations (tokens) influence the nature and content of the recall narrative. Further, it examines whether memory recall differs in response to personal, participant-chosen memory cues, as compared to those selected by someone other than the participant. Reliance on personal artifacts used during two of three unstructured interview sessions resulted in recollections that seemed more scripted in delivery and circumscribed in detail. Researcher-selected tokens, used exclusively during session 3, yielded more fully formed recollections, and additional stories. Early findings suggest that generic associations may be at least equal to, if not more effective than, unique, individuated artifacts to engendering creative self-expression and vivid personal recall for those experiencing the initial memory loss of AD.Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (410-08-1540)published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe