The missing link between faces and names: Evidence from Alzheimer's disease patients

Retrieval of proper names is a cause of concern and complaint among elderly adults and it is an early symptom of patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). While it is well established that AD patients have deficits of proper name retrieval, the nature of such impairment is not yet fully understood. Specifically, it is unknown whether this deficit is due to a degradation of the links between faces and proper names, or due to deficits in intentionally accessing and retrieving proper names from faces. Here, we aim to investigate the integrity of the links between famous faces and proper names in AD while minimizing the impact of the explicit retrieval. We compare the performances of AD patients and elderly controls in a face-name priming task. We assess the integrity of the link between faces and names at two different levels: identity level - the name and face belong to the same person; and semantic level - the name and face belong to the same category (e.g., politicians). Our results reveal that AD patients compared with controls show intact semantic priming but reduced priming for person identity. This suggests that the deficits in intentionally retrieving proper names in AD are the result of a partial disruption of the network at the identity level, i.e., the links between known faces and proper names.     

Proper name retrieval in old age: Converging evidence against disproportionate impairment

Abstract

In this article, the task of separating specific from general effects of normal aging on cognition is illustrated by considering the retrieval of proper names as a possible case of exceptional or disproportionate age-related impairment. First, existing evidence both for and against disproportionate impairment is reviewed from several sources, including self-rated questionnaires, diary and laboratory studies of memory failures, and the speeded naming of objects versus people. Some new regression analyses of naming responses are then presented; they demonstrate that the effect of age on proper name retrieval can be removed by taking into account the effect of age on other processes not involving proper name retrieval. Finally, data from face and voice identification tasks are analyzed in terms of conditional probabilities which reveal that the effect of age on the final stage of name retrieval is no greater than the effect of age on the earlier stages of recognition and semantic information retrieval. the findings from these different methods converge on the conclusion that proper name retrieval is not disproportionately impaired by normal aging. Some possible explanations for older people's persistent complaints of poor memory for names are discussed.     

Strategies for learning proper names: expanding retrieval practice,meaning and imagery

Name learning strategies including retrieval practice, semantic associations and imagery were compared in laboratory‐based and real‐life experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 studied expanding retrieval practice and a semantic association strategy as memory improvement techniques for learning proper names. Participants either retrieved or restudied names on the same, expanding schedule. After a short, filled interval, cued recall of names was about 250% better following retrieval than restudy and 200% better with than without semantic associations. Together, the techniques improved recall by 300–400%. In Experiment 3, retrieval practice was compared with an imagery mnemonic for name learning under real‐life social conditions: Participants sought to learn the names of people they met at a party. Retrieval practice produced 50% higher recall after 24–72 hours but the imagery mnemonic was no more effective than non‐directed instructions to learn names. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ageing and lexical access to common and proper names in picture naming

The question of whether lexical access for proper names is more impaired by ageing than lexical acess for other words is controversial. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the effect of age on proper and common name retrieval in long-term memory. The word retrieval paradigm used to achieve this goal consisted of the naming of photographs representing celebrities (production of a certain kind of proper names: names of people) and objects (production of common names). Compared with younger adults, elderly people experienced more tip-of-the-tongue states for proper names, but not for common names. Thus, the present study provides support for disproportionate age-related problems in lexical access to proper names. This finding is interpreted with reference to the cognitive model of speech production proposed by Burke et al. (1991).     

I recognize your face, but I can't remember your name: A question of expertise?

In four experiments on the identification of familiar faces we reassessed a robust performance pattern—namely, the temporal advantage for retrieving biographical facts as compared to recalling proper names, which has been interpreted as reflecting a serial ordering of the access to semantic and name information. Evidence for recent parallel accounts had been provided by Scanlan and Johnston (1997) who reported an advantage for name retrieval in children. Here we replicated the findings of Scanlan and Johnston but also showed that the naming advantage disappears, and performance is very similar to that of adults when stimuli and tasks are used that are familiar to children. Conversely, we also demonstrated an advantage for name retrieval in adults when highly unfamiliar semantic facts were associated with the faces. Together these findings suggest that there is no fundamental difference in the cognitive architectures of children and adults. The experiments indicate that the relative speed of naming and semantic fact retrieval depends on the expertise with the semantic facts to be retrieved. Implications for models of face identification and naming are discussed.     

Retrieval of names in face and object naming in an interference study

Two experiments using the interference paradigm are reported. In the first experiment, the participants spoke aloud the names of celebrities and the names of objects when presented with pictures while hearing distractors. In the case of proper names, we replicated the data obtained by Izaute and Bonin (2001) using the interference paradigm with a proper name written naming task. In the case of common names, the results replicated those obtained by Shriefers, Meyer, and Levelt (1990). In the second experiment, the participants produced the names of celebrities when presented with their faces while hearing distractors that were either proper names associated with the celebrities (associate condition), that belonged to a different professional category (different condition), or that corresponded to the proper names of the celebrities (identical condition). For negative SOAs, "associate" distractors were found to increase latencies compared to the "different category" condition. The implications of the findings for proper name retrieval are briefly discussed.     

Retrieval of names in face and object naming in an interference study

Two experiments using the interference paradigm are reported. In the first experiment, the participants spoke aloud the names of celebrities and the names of objects when presented with pictures while hearing distractors. In the case of proper names, we replicated the data obtained by Izaute and Bonin (2001) using the interference paradigm with a proper name written naming task. In the case of common names, the results replicated those obtained by Shriefers, Meyer, and Levelt (1990). In the second experiment, the participants produced the names of celebrities when presented with their faces while hearing distractors that were either proper names associated with the celebrities (associate condition), that belonged to a different professional category (different condition), or that corresponded to the proper names of the celebrities (identical condition). For negative SOAs, “associate” distractors were found to increase latencies compared to the “different category” condition. The implications of the findings for proper name retrieval are briefly discussed.     

Meeting Mr. Farmer versus meeting a farmer: specific effects of aging on learning proper names

Previous research testing age-related learning and memory problems specific to proper names has yielded mixed results. In the present experiments, young and older participants saw faces of previously unknown people identified by name and occupation. On subsequent presentations of each picture, participants attempted to recall the pictured person's name and occupation. Young and older adults made more name errors (the occupation was recalled but not the correct name) than occupation errors (the name was recalled but not the correct occupation), and older adults made relatively more name but not occupation errors than young adults. This specific age-related deficit in proper-name learning is explained within an interactive-activation model of memory and language that has been extensively applied to cognitive aging and proper-name retrieval.     

Retrieval processes in distance cognition

Two studies were performed to evaluate the role of information retrieval in the cognition of traversed distance. In Study 1, subjects walked a pathway containing intersections that were labeled with either high-frequency or low-frequency proper names. The pathway with high-frequency names was estimated as longer than the pathway with low-frequency names. Subsequent tests of memory for names indicated that high- and low-frequency names were recognized equally well, but that the former were recalled more easily. Prompting subjects with intersection names eliminated the difference in distance estimation between highand low-frequency name conditions. A second study demonstrated that category prompts that increased information recall also increased estimated distance. Results were interpreted as suggesting a significant role of information retrieval in distance cognition.     

Cherry pit primes Brad Pitt: Homophone priming effects on young and older adults' production of proper names

Abstract— This study investigated why proper names are difficult to retrieve, especially for older adults. On intermixed trials, young and older adults produced a word for a definition or a proper name for a picture of a famous person. Prior production of a homophone (e.g., pit) as the response on a definition trial increased correct naming and reduced tip-of-the-tongue experiences for a proper name (e.g., Pitt) on a picture-naming trial. Among participants with no awareness of the homophone manipulation, older but not young adults showed these homophone priming effects. With a procedure that reduced awareness effects (Experiment 2), prior production of a homophone improved correct naming only for older adults, but speeded naming latency for both age groups. We suggest that representations of proper names are susceptible to weak connections that cause deficits in the transmission of excitation, impairing retrieval especially in older adults. We conclude that homophone production strengthens phonological connections, increasing the transmission of excitation.     

Recognition and retrieval of proper names: Age differences in the fan effect

Abstract

A spreading activation model was applied, to explain. some aspects of retrieval failure for proper names. The fact that retrieval failures occur more frequently for well-known names than for unfamiliar names, and the increased incidence of name blocking in the elderly, are both interpreted in terms of the fan effect. Fanning is created when multiple far are known about a single person and results in slower and more error-prone retrieval, but the fan effect can be counteracted if the facts form an integrated set. Three groups of subjects—young, middle-aged, and elderly—learned sets of name-attribute statements in three conditions. In the no-fan condition, each name was uniquely paired with a single attribute; in the fan condition, each name was linked with three different attributes; in the crossed-fan condition, different names shared some of the same attributes. Verification RTs and cued recall responses showed that all subjects found the crossed-fan condition most difficult, but, when name-attribute links were not crossed, young and middle-aged subjects were able to counteract the fan effect by integrating the facts into a unified representation. Elderly subjects were less able to integrate effectively and were more susceptible to the fan effect.     

Naming with proper names: the left temporal pole theory

Existing empirical data on proper names processing are critically reviewed in trying to understand which tasks may involve the left temporal pole, which proper name related functions are supported by this structure and eventually offer some speculations about why these functions might have developed in this location in the course of human evolution. While clinical group studies support the idea that proper name processing takes place in the left temporal pole, single case studies of selective proper name anomia or sparing, as well as neuroimaging studies, suggest the involvement of a larger neural network. Within this network, an important role may be played by the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex, including areas critical in social interaction. The differentiation in the brain of proper name processing from common names processing could in part be due to social pressure, favouring a neural system able to more efficiently and unambiguously sustain designating categories or designating individual entities. The activation of the left temporal pole in proper name processing is shown to increase with age. Longer social interaction may thus contribute to convey proper names processing toward areas closer to those supporting social cognition.     

Retrieving names in old age: Short- and (very) long-term effects of repetition

Two experiments are reported that examine the effects of repetition on name retrieval in younger adults (in their 50s and 60s) and older adults (in their 70s and 80s). In Experiment 1, the subjects were asked to name a set of famous faces four times over the course of a 1-h session. Younger subjects produced significantly more correct responses than did older subjects. There was significant improvement with repeated attempts at naming, with younger and older subjects benefiting equally in terms of increasing numbers of correct responses across the session. In contrast, there was a highly significant age deficit in picture recognition over a similar retention interval. A qualitative analysis of naming responses (full name vs. part of the name) provided support for the view that aging and nonrecent use have equivalent effects on retrieval. In Experiment 2, younger subjects (but not older subjects) were significantly more likely to correctly name famous faces that they had seen 22 months previously than to correctly name new famous faces. In contrast, older subjects (but not younger subjects) were significantly more likely to produce erroneous names to famous faces that they had seen 22 months previously than to new famous faces. It is concluded that repetition priming may be relatively unaffected by aging over short retention intervals (Experiment 1) but not over a very long retention interval (Experiment 2).     

Are semantic errors actually semantic?: Evidence from alzheimer's disease

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) produce a high rate of semantic errors when naming to confrontation. This is considered to be one of the many consequences of their semantic memory deficit. However, it has been shown, in aphasic patients with focal lesions, that semantic errors could arise from impairment to any one of the levels in the naming process. To check this hypothesis in AD, we assessed in 15 patients the capacity to name and access semantic knowledge (by multiple-choice probe questions) about 14 objects presented successively in the visual, tactile, auditory, and verbal modalities. In the visual naming task, 33 errors were recorded: 26 (78.8%) were semantic and 7 (21.2%) were unrelated errors. Of the 26 semantic errors, 8 were related to a deficit of the semantic knowledge related to the item and 17 to a deficit in the retrieval of the phonological form of the word. One was associated with a deficit of access to semantic knowledge in the visual modality. The 7 unrelated errors were associated with a loss of semantic knowledge for 4 and deficit of access to the phonological form for 3. In conclusion, this study shows that semantic errors do not systematically reflect a deficit of semantic knowledge in Alzheimer's disease. It also seems that unrelated errors are more frequently related to semantic deficits than semantic errors in this population.     

The improved name game: Better use of expanding retrieval practice

Morris and Fritz (2000) demonstrated the effectiveness of the name game as a retrieval-practice based technique for learning the names of group members. We hypothesised that a reversed version of the name game would be even more effective. Performance was contrasted with a no-retrieval condition that mimicked the name game in every way except for the retrieval of the names, allowing an estimate of the specific contribution of retrieval practice. The benefit of a few refresher rounds of the game after 2 weeks was also examined. The reversed name game was superior to the original name game and the refresher rounds benefited all groups. The very considerable superiority of the name game over the no-retrieval condition demonstrated the magnitude of the benefit of expanding retrieval practice.     

The improved name game: better use of expanding retrieval practice

Morris and Fritz (2000) demonstrated the effectiveness of the name game as a retrieval-practice based technique for learning the names of group members. We hypothesised that a reversed version of the name game would be even more effective. Performance was contrasted with a no-retrieval condition that mimicked the name game in every way except for the retrieval of the names, allowing an estimate of the specific contribution of retrieval practice. The benefit of a few refresher rounds of the game after 2 weeks was also examined. The reversed name game was superior to the original name game and the refresher rounds benefited all groups. The very considerable superiority of the name game over the no-retrieval condition demonstrated the magnitude of the benefit of expanding retrieval practice.     

Proper-name processing: are proper names pure referencing expressions?

Theoretical models of proper-name processing have been primarily derived from studies of people's names; however, they are thought to generalize to all classes of proper name. Five experiments are reported that use repetition priming to compare different classes of proper names. It was found that for people's names and landmark names, (a) production of a name in response to seeing a picture primed a subsequent familiarity decision to the same item's written name and (b) similarly, making a familiarity decision to an auditory presentation of a name primed a familiarity decision to the same item's written name. No comparable facilitation was found for the country-name stimuli. The presence of this specific facilitation was attributed to the nature of connectivity between conceptual and lexical representations. Theoretical views that proper names are unique, meaningless labels and that they are pure referencing expressions are evaluated.     

Interference resolution in face perception and name retrieval

Selective retrieval is a rather difficult task, and especially so when one attempts to retrieve personal representations such as faces or names. Retrieval of memories under strong competition conditions is pervasive in human memory and some have suggested that inhibitory control is used to overcome interference between competing stimuli. In the present study, we used the retrieval practice paradigm to investigate if competition among personal representations (such as facial features and names) is also resolved by inhibitory mechanisms. This question is theoretically relevant, since personal representations have been said to have a special status on cognition. Moreover, some models of face recognition assume that interference can arise between different representations, but that this interference would be automatically and rapidly solved, with no need for a controlled inhibitory mechanism to act. In two experiments we showed RIF for facial features and familiar names, but only when participants had to actively retrieve some information. This suggests that personal information is subject to mechanisms of inhibitory control, which could help explain everyday life difficulties in processes such as face feature recognition or name retrieval.