chapter 7

Question 1

Define Explicit Memory. Provide an example in relation with anesthesia research

Answer 1

• Definition: memory of both content and context of a learning episode.
• Example: in the specific situation of intra-operative learning, the patient has post-operative memory that they heard the word “gooseberry” (content) spoken by a man’s voice at some point in the operation (context).

Question 2

Define Implicit Memory. Provide an example in relation with anesthesia research

Answer 2

• Definition: Changes in response or task performance without recollection of learning episode or context.
• Example: Patient can’t recall intra-operative events but responds with “gooseberry” when prompted to think of a fruit. This Indicates implicit learning despite a lack of explicit recall

Question 3

List the independent components of general anesthesia

Answer 3

1. Substance to induce hypnosis or loss of consciousness
2. Analgesics to pre-empt pain & physiological stress reaction
3. Muscle relaxant

Question 4

What methods/ techniques are used to assess consciousness during operations

Answer 4

isolated forearm technique (IFT), Electroencephalographic (EEG) procedures, and implicit memory paradigms

Question 5

What is the focus of the Positive Suggestion Studies?

Answer 5

-The impact of suggestion on post-operative behaviour.
-The studies seek to find out if positive intraoperative information produces positive post-operative effects

Question 6

Describe the procedure for Hughes et al (1994) study related to Smoking cessation

Answer 6

Female smokers undergoing surgery received one of two pre-recorded messages while fully anaesthetized
-Group A: active messages to encourage them to give up smoking (positive suggestion)
-Group B: voice counting numbers (neutral message)

Question 7

Explain the study related to enhanced reading speed & lexical decision-making. What did it demonstrate?

Answer 7

-A series of studies by Munte et al (1999, 2000, 2003) examined the speed of reading comprehension after intraoperative contexts
-demonstrate significantly faster reading following previous, intraoperative exposure to the material despite the absence of explicit recall, in comparison with controls who received no such priming
-Speed of decision was found to be associated with intra-operative priming.

Question 8

Describe process dissociation procedure (PDP)

Answer 8

Jacoby (1991) first proposed the use of process dissociation to evaluate the relative contribution of explicit and implicit components in word recall. Typically, a word is presented during anesthesia. After recovery, the patient asked to retrieve the word in two different ways with the help of a word stem cue

Question 9

What do the retrieval tasks in the process dissociation procedure involve?

Answer 9

The first retrieval task involves requesting the patient to repeat the word heard during the operation or whatever first comes into her head
For the second retrieval task, the patient has to generate a word that is different from what first came to mind that completes the stem meaningfully

Question 10

Describe how the process dissociation procedure (PDP) evaluated implicit & explicit memory

Answer 10

The second task requires the exclusion of any conscious or explicit influences on recall. Thus, the first retrieval task makes use of both explicit and implicit retrieval processes; but in the second task, explicit and implicit processes are working in opposite directions.