Showing papers by "Michael S. Humphreys published in 2012"

Memory and communication support strategies in dementia: effect of a training program for informal caregivers.

Abstract: Background: People with dementia have a range of needs that are met by informal caregivers. A DVD-based training program was developed using research-based strategies for memory and communication in dementia. The effectiveness of the training on the caregiver experience and the well-being of the person with dementia was evaluated. Methods: A pre-test/post-test controlled trial was undertaken with caregiver-care-recipient dyads living in the community. Measures of the carers' knowledge of memory and communication strategies, burden, positive perceptions of caregiving, and perceptions of problem behaviors were taken pre- and three months post- intervention. The depression and well-being of the person with dementia were also evaluated. Satisfaction with the training and feedback were measured. Results: Twenty-nine dyads (13 training group, 16 control group) participated. Bonferroni's correction was made to adjust for multiple comparisons, setting α at 0.00385. A significant improvement was found in caregivers' knowledge for the training group compared to the control group (p = 0.0011). The training group caregivers reported a reduction in the frequency of care recipient disruptive behaviors (p = 0.028) and increased perceptions of positive aspects of caregiving (p = 0.039), both at a level approaching significance. The training group care recipients had increased frequency of verbally communicated depressive behaviors at a level approaching significance (p = 0.0126). The frequency of observed depressive behaviors was not significantly different between groups. Conclusions: This approach to training for caregivers of people with dementia appears promising for its impact on knowledge and the caregiving experience. Further research could monitor the impact of the training on broader measures of depression and well-being, with a larger sample.

Memory of Sponsorship-Linked Marketing Communications: The Effect of Competitor Mentions

Abstract: Corporate sponsorship value is brought into question when false recognition of foils suggests confusion regarding true sponsors. While an indicator of confusion, recognition false alarms do not tell the entire story regarding memory for sponsor-event relationships. Two free recall experiments show relatively good memory for sponsors and also that under certain conditions, the mention of direct competitors can actually facilitate recall of true sponsors and events. The findings point to the importance of understanding the memory-based characteristics of measurement as well as to the memory-supported decision-making tasks that sponsorship information might eventually influence.

Test-retest reliability and practice effects of the Wechsler Memory Scale-III

Abstract: Although serial administration of cognitive tests is increasingly common, there is a paucity of research on test–retest reliabilities and practice effects, both of which are important for evaluating changes in functioning. Reliability is generally conceptualized as involving short-lasting changes in performance. However, when repeated testing occurs over a period of years, there will be some longer lasting effects. The implications of these longer lasting effects and practice effects on reliability were examined in the context of repeated administrations of the Wechsler Memory Scale-III in 339 community-dwelling women aged 40–79 years over 2 to 7 years. The results showed that Logical Memory and Verbal Paired Associates subtests were consistently the most reliable subtests across the age cohorts. The magnitude of practice effects varied as a function of subtests and age. The largest practice effects were found in the youngest age cohort, especially on the Faces, Logical Memory, and Verbal Paired Associates subtests.

Change in a sponsorship alliance and the communication implications of spontaneous recovery

Abstract: As the marketplace for sponsored properties approaches saturation and sponsorship contracts come up for renewal, a new communications challenge has been born: spontaneous recovery of the previous sponsor. Changed sponsors may result in unwelcome recall of the previous alliance partner-unwelcome from the new sponsor's perspective, that is. Presented here, a field study and an experiment confirm that spontaneous recovery of a past sponsor, while not arising immediately, does, over time, influence recall of the current sponsor. The pattern of memory found in this research presents new knowledge to the researcher and practitioner that can inform sponsorship decision making, implementation, and measurement.

Enhanced recognition of words previously presented in a task with nonfocal prospective memory requirements.

Abstract: Remembering to perform deferred actions when events are encountered in the future is referred to as event-based prospective memory. Individuals can be slower to respond to ongoing tasks when they have prospective memory task requirements. These costs are interpreted as evidence for cognitive control processes allocated to the prospective memory task, but we know little about these processes. In the present article, the recognition of nontargets previously presented in an ongoing task with prospective memory task requirements provided evidence for the differential processing of individual ongoing task items. Participants performed a lexical decision task, where some participants were required to make an alternative prospective memory response either to a specific word (focal) or to exemplars of a category (nonfocal). Participants were slower to respond to the ongoing task in the nonfocal conditions than in the control condition (costs), regardless of whether or not prospective memory task importance was emphasized. Participants were also slower to respond to the ongoing task in the focal conditions than in the control condition, but only when prospective memory task importance was emphasized. This task was followed by a surprise recognition memory test in which nontarget words from the lexical decision task were intermixed with new words. Focal conditions, but not nonfocal conditions, showed better discrimination on the recognition task, as compared with the control condition. Participants in nonfocal conditions mapped the semantic features of the ongoing task letter strings onto the semantic features of their prospective memory category, and this elaboration in the processing of individual nontargets increased incidental learning and produced the recognition benefit.

Maintenance rehearsal: the key to the role attention plays in storage and forgetting.

Abstract: We examined associative and item recognition using the maintenance rehearsal paradigm. Our intent was to control for mnemonic strategies; to produce a low, graded level of learning; and to provide evidence of the role of attention in long-term memory. An advantage for low-frequency words emerged in both associative and item recognition at very low levels of learning. This early emergence casts doubt on explanations based on the traditional concept of recollection. A comparison of false alarms supports a role for item information or the joint use of cues but not familiarity in producing associative false alarms. We may also have found a way to measure the amount of attention being paid to a to-be-learned item or pair, independently of memory performance on the attended item. This result may be an important step in determining whether coherent theories about the role of attention in long- and short-term memory can be created.

Education strategies in dementia

Abstract: The article reports on MESSAGE Communication Strategies in Dementia and RECAPS Memory Strategies in Dementia, a video-based educational training program for medical personnel who care for dementia patients which provides training in dementia-specific communication and memory strategies.