Preserved Learning and Retention of Pattern-Analyzing Skill in Amnesia: Dissociation of Knowing How and Knowing That
Abstract
Amnesic patients acquired a mirror-reading skill at a rate equivalent to that of matched control subjects and retained it for at least 3 months. The results indicate that the class of preserved learning skills in amnesia is broader than previously reported. Amnesia seems to spare information that is based on rules or procedures, as contrasted with information that is data-based or declarative--"knowing how rather than "knowing that." The results support the hypothesis that such a distinction is honored by the nervous system.
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- Authors
- Cohen, N. J., & Squire, L. R.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (US)
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 1980-10-10
- Volume
- 210
- Issue
- 4466
- Pages
- 207-210
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2082389353
- Cited by
- 2,296
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 119 · 2018: 48 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 56 · 2015: 75 · 2014: 72 · 2013: 66 · 2012: 57
- FWCI
- 8.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (2p50mh030914-15)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- amnesia, skill retention, mirror reading, procedural memory, pattern analysis, rule-based learning, declarative memory
- MeSH terms
- Alcohol Amnestic Disorder, Amnesia, Electroconvulsive Therapy, Form Perception, Humans, Learning, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Reading, Retention, Psychology, Time Factors
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