A neuropsychological argument for a processing view of memory

This study examined the case of a brain-damaged patient, I.R., who exhibits the pattern of performance typical of persons with a selective short-term memory deficit. Part 1 reveals a dissociation in performance between impaired short-term memory and preserved long-term memory. Part 2 examines an alternative explanation of I.R.’s performance under a processing view of memory that rejects the notion of dual stores. The results indicate that the patient’s performance on immediate serial recall of short lists was influenced by the semantic properties of items. In contrast, the patient did not use phonological properties. A similar pattern was found in supraspan tasks, in which I.R. demonstrated excellent recall of lexico-semantic material, but impaired memory for phonological information. These data suggest that there is a disruption of memory for phonological features with preserved memory for lexico-semantic features, irrespective of the short-term/long-term memory distinction.