Reminiscence in Inverted Alphabet Printing as a Function of Degree of EEG Abnormality

Abstract

This investigation was designed to test an hypothesized negative relationship between degree of EEG abnormality and amount of reminiscence in motor learning. The learning functions and three measures of reminiscence in inverted alphabet printing under massed practice conditions were compared for two groups of convulsive disorder patients differing in judged degree of EEG abnormality. A markedly abnormal EEG group exhibited significantly less reminiscence than a mildly abnormal EEG group in the absence of reliable differences in pre-rest performance level. A normal reference sample showed a higher level of performance than either neurological sample, but differed significantly in reminiscence only from the markedly abnormal EEG group. The results were interpreted to reflect the influence of central neural variables in the generation and dissipation of I_r.

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