“Despite the fact that memory in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been researched for over fifty years, there has been very little in the way of attempts to synthesize or codify the findings” (Boucher & Bowler, 2008, p. xv). It is the intent of this thesis to address this need specifically for episodic memory function in individuals with autism or Asperger’s syndrome. A scoping review was conducted on episodic memory function in this population and the findings are used to: (1) produce an episodic memory profile for individuals with autism or Asperger’s syndrome; and (2) identify gaps in the existing literature for future areas of study. The framework for the search criteria was based on Lind and Bowler’s (2008) claim of development of episodic memory being dependent on three cognitive abilities: (1) concept of self; (2) meta-representation; and (3) temporal cognition. Implications for teaching practice were discussed in light of the findings. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-24 16:42:01.194

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Research has argued that perfectionism, as well mood state, can serve to influence the type and amount of information that will be attended to and remembered in one’s surrounding environment. The purpose of the current study was to look at how mood and differing degrees of threat may influence the cognitive processes of individuals higher in perfectionism. Following completion of the perfectionism measures, 121 post-secondary students were exposed to a mood induction as well as a threat condition and then asked to complete three cognitive tasks – d2 test of attention, emotional Stroop, and a recognition task. Results indicated that perfectionism was associated with accuracy and reaction time and this impact differed based on mood and threat. Results also indicated individuals higher in perfectionism had a memory bias towards negative and perfectionistic content, reinforcing the idea that perfectionism has a distinctly cognitive component that impacts how an individual processes incoming information.

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When one learns a novel motor skill, retention of that skill requires consolidation of motor learning. Previous reports have shown that preceding sessions of motor learning can interfere with the acquisition of new tasks and that new motor learning can disrupt previously retained skills. A recent study by Caithness et al. (2004) shows that new learning, even after long delays, can totally disrupt prior retention. This finding is consistent with the idea that re-activated memories become labile and subject to displacement. However the result is difficult to reconcile with day-to-day experience in which skills improve with repetition and are not disrupted by unrelated activities. In this experiment, we show that when subjects learn new dynamics the influence of one task on another depends on the similarity of the force fields involved. We used a robotic manipulandum to define environments in which subjects learned to move. We used an AB design in which subjects learned field A on day one and B on day 2. We show that the effect of having learned environment A 24-hours prior to learning B varies along a continuum from facilitation when they are identical, through little effect when they are unrelated, to total interference when they are opposite. These findings thus indicate that the nervous system encodes information about dynamics in a fashion that is predictable on the basis of the similarity between the initial and final training environments. One month following their initial training, we tested subjects environment C, whose dynamics were opposite to B. Performance on this task suggests that the nervous system retained neither discrete instances of past training nor solely the most recent motor learning, but instead constructed a running average of learned dynamics to build an individual's motor repertoire.

Odour recognition memory was studied in 49 patients with unilateral temporal lobe excision, and 20 control subjects. Odours were presented monorhinally to explore any asymmetry in performance between nostrils, and to test for hemispheric differences between patients with excision from the right versus the left temporal lobe. Testing was by a 2-alternative, forced-choice procedure, immediately after presentation and 24 hours later. A discrimination test was carried out at the conclusion of the memory test, and nondiscriminated odours were excluded from the final memory scores. The contribution of the hippocampus to odour memory was investigated by dividing patient groups according to the size of hippocampal excision. The memory test showed that only patients with excision from the left temporal lobe that included a large hippocampal removal were impaired after 24 hours. The discrimination test revealed deficits only for patients with right temporal lobectomy, and only in the right nostril.

The Canadian-descendent Old Colony Mennonites first arrived in Bolivia from Mexico in 1967. Their collective identity has been shaped by a series of migrations through several countries, including Russia, Canada and Mexico. In this thesis I look at which memories are retold and how they are used to define their identity as an anti-modern people, and vice versa, how this identity filters their memories. I also look to see what it is that the Old Colony Mennonites recall of their migration history: the years before arriving in Bolivia in the 1960s, the pioneer years and succeeding decades of life in Bolivia. In addition, I examine how they have used their history to define their worlds and how their views on technology, language, and clothing are articulated by historical accounts.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurologically debilitating disease that is plaguing our elderly population. Transgenic mice with Alzheimer’s disease mutations are used to study signal pathways, potential drug targets and mechanism of disease. However, studies of the effects of different AD mutations on behavior and neuropathological progression in mice have been inconsistent when comparing different genetic backgrounds. The aim of this study was to compare two commonly used TgCRND8 backgrounds, the 129SvEvtac/C57F1 and C3H/C57F1 strains, for memory function in the Morris water maze (MWM), and to determine differences in plaque burden. We found deficits in multiple parameters of the MWM in the 129SvEvtac/C57F1 strain. Similarly, this background strain showed significantly more amyloid beta (Aβ) plaque burden than the C3H/C57F1 strain. This supports the hypothesis that strain specific differences are apparent in spatial memory testing and neuropathologic progression of AD. It leads us to believe that epigenetics are key to understanding AD risk assessment and development.