ESPE Abstracts

Background: Tuner syndrome (TS) is associated with a distinctive cognitive profile including memory impairments. The current study focuses on metamemory defined as our knowledge about our memory functioning and yet never been explored in TS.

Objective and hypotheses: The aim of this preliminary study is thus to determine what patients with TS know about their memory functioning and when their memory is impaired whether or not they are aware of those deficits. To assess metamemory, this study focused on the Feeling-of-knowing paradigm. This paradigm consists in asking participants to predict whether or not they will be able to recognize later an information that they currently cannot recall. Many studies have shown than people are accurate using such paradigms and therefore know what they will be able to retrieve later.

Method: The aim of this preliminary study is thus to determine what patients with TS know about their memory functioning and when their memory is impaired whether or not they are aware of those deficits. To assess metamemory, this study focused on the Feeling-of-knowing paradigm. This paradigm consists in asking participants to predict whether or not they will be able to recognize later an information that they currently cannot recall. Many studies have shown than people are accurate using such paradigms and therefore know what they will be able to retrieve later.

Results: Results show that participants with TS recall fewer face-name associations but similar number of famous faces, thus showing a dissociation between episodic and semantic memory. Furthermore, participants with TS gave accurate Feeling-of-knowing judgments, showing that these patients have a good knowledge of their memory performance (and deficits).