Dissertation
Prospective memory acquisition in multiple sclerosis
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
May 2014
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-4557
Abstract
Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with the presence of cognitive deficits. Prospective memory (PM), or "remembering to remember," has significant functional relevance to the MS population. Individuals with MS show mild-to-moderate deficits in PM, which have been associated with increased risk of dangers such as medication nonadherence. Research has yet to determine which aspects of PM are particularly problematic for individuals with MS, and whether impairments in cognitive constructs underlying PM may contribute to overall PM errors. Selective reminding, a novel methodology within PM research, was used to delineate the contributions of each stage within the process of PM to overall PM ability. Participants: Groups consisted of two samples of individuals with MS (2 conditions: SR, n=11 and 1T, n=10) and two samples of healthy controls (SR, n=13 and 1T, n=9). Groups were matched on distributions of demographic variables, and MS groups were matched on disease-related variables. Methods: Participants underwent a two-hour battery of testing. The main measure of interest was a novel measure of PM, the Selective Reminding PM (SRPM) task. Both diagnostic groups (MS and HC) were randomly assigned to two conditions: MS-SR (full SRPM task) and MS-1T (only one encoding trial provided). Additional variables collected included performance in several neuropsychological domains as well as demographic, psychosocial, and MS disease-related factors. Results: Data indicated that the participants in the SR conditions (vs. 1T conditions)demonstrated stronger PM performance in both MS and HC groups. Individuals with MS were impaired relative to HCs in the 1T condition, but performance was statistically equivalent between diagnostic groups in the SR condition. Conclusions: Overall, the current theoretically-driven examination of PM encoding in MS (as compared to healthy adults) provided intriguing and useful information about the process of PM in MS and the importance of the Intention Formation stage of processing. This project replicated previous findings (acquisition deficits) for PM in MS that have been well-established for retrospective memory in this group. These findings have significant implications for the cognitive psychology of PM and may also help provide guidelines for assessment and remediation of PM difficulties in MS and other populations.
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Details
- Title
- Prospective memory acquisition in multiple sclerosis
- Creators
- Joshua D. McKeever - DU
- Contributors
- Maria Teresa Schultheis (Advisor) - Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 4557; 991014632941404721