Abstract

Forgetting was assessed in the amnesic patient H.M. using forced-choice and yes-no picture recognition at four delay intervals: 10 min, 24 hr, 72 hr, and 1 week after learning. In order to make H.M.'s initial recognition performance comparable to that of control subjects who viewed each slide for 1 sec, H.M. viewed each slide for 20 sec. H.M. displayed normal forgetting in forced-choice and yes-no recognition, although he was impaired in yes-no recognition at the 24-hr delay interval. These data contradict Huppert and Piercy's hypothesis that medical temporal-lobe pathology is associated with rapid forgetting.