Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-145). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2002. / Advisr: Salvatore Soraci, Jr. Submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-73). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-144). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR32072

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2009. / Title from web page (viewed on July 20, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008. / Directed by Lili Sahakyan; submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Apr. 13, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-55).

Episodic Cognition (or “Mental Time Travel”) is the ability to mentally re-experience events from our personal past and imagine potential events from our personal future. This capacity is fundamental to our lives and has been argued to be uniquely human. The aim of this thesis is to use behavioural tasks developed in comparative cognition to integrate both the literature on different research subjects (animals, children, adults, patients) but also from different theoretical perspectives, with the hope of facilitating communication and comparison between these fields. The backbone of the thesis is the behavioural tasks themselves, along with their origins in theory. Specifically, the “What-Where-When”, “Unexpected Question” and “Free Recall” episodic memory tasks and the “Bischof-Köhler” test of episodic foresight. Each of these tasks stems from different theoretical approaches to defining episodic cognition. Whilst extensively studied, these four tasks have never been undertaken by the same subjects and have never been directly compared. It is thus unclear whether these different theoretical perspectives converge on a single “episodic cognition” system, or a variety of overlapping processes. This thesis explores these issues by presenting these tasks to previously untested animal (the Eurasian Jay), developing children (aged 3-6), and a sample of human adults (Cambridge Undergraduates). Finally, these findings are applied in the assessment of episodic cognition in a population that is thought to have mild hippocampal damage – the overweight and obese. It was predicted that if all these putative tests of episodic cognition were tapping into the same underlying ability, then they should be passed by the same animal species, develop at the same time in children, correlate in human adults and be impaired in those with damage to the relevant brain areas. These predictions were, to some degree, confirmed. While the novel animal model could not be tested on all paradigms, the jays performed well on Bischof-Köhler future planning test. However, the results of the What-Where-When memory test were equivocal. There was a relatively low degree of correlation between performance on all the tasks in human children, along with a suggestion that each had a distinct developmental trajectory. The study of human adults revealed that while performance on all the tasks were related to one another, this relationship was often nonlinear, suggesting the contribution of several different psychological processes. Finally, it was found that both memory and performance on the Bischof-Köhler future planning task were altered in individuals who are overweight. A potentially surprising theme throughout the results is that performance on the Bischof-Köhler tasks is in fact negatively related to performance on memory tests, and improves in patients thought to have mild hippocampal damage. It is concluded that there may be a significant degree of overlap in the processes tapped by different putative tests of episodic memory, but that they can not be considered to be equivalent. Furthermore, it is suggested that episodic cognition is a fundamentally ineffective system with which to predict future motivational states, because it is biased by current feelings.

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This study assessed the cognitive impact of ECT using: a paired words and short story test, a spatial and pattern recognition memory subtest, a pattern-location associated learning subtest, a delayed matching to sample subtest, a modified version of Kopelman’s Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI), and a subjective memory test was also included. Tests were conducted on ECT patients, before treatment (baseline), after four treatments, after the final ECT and one month following the final ECT treatment, to measure short and long-term memory loss. Baseline data was collected from 26 patients, thereafter patient numbers varied (details are reported in the results section). This study found that paired word and a short story tasks were insensitive at detecting cognitive deficits during or after ECT; however a delay of one hour increased the sensitivity of these tests. The visual memory battery detected deficits in visual and visuospatial memory during and immediately following a course of ECT but only spatial recognition memory deficits remained one month post-ECT. The modified AMI appeared to be a sensitive measure of retrograde memory loss. Deficits were observed in both semantic and episodic memory. Memory for recent events displayed the greatest losses. Subjective memory complaints were significantly reduced during, after, and at one month following ECT; however these were highly correlated with depression scores. In conclusion, the battery of neuropsychological memory tests adopted for this study appear to be sensitive to the adverse effect of ECT on aspects of anterograde and retrograde memory loss generally. However, the sensitivity of the subjective test is questionable as outcome on this test appears to be influenced by mood.