Associative learning and flexibility in Korsakoff's syndrome: an exploration of derived relational responding and equivalence relations

Stimulus equivalence and conditional discriminition in patients with Korsakoff amnesia.
 
The theory about stimulus equivalence of Murray Sidman is a recent behavioral model of complex behavior like language and cognition. Central to this model is the notion of 'derived stimulus relations': given a set of trained contextual or conditional discriminations, the organism demonstrates in an orderly and predictable manner new, not directly trained relations between the stimuli. These derived relations are symmetrical and transitive in nature, and thus bearing an important analogy with the phenomenon of language. Added to this, stimulus equivalence has not been found with nonhumans. Young children demonstrate stimulus equivalence from aproximately the age of 2 years.
Patients suffering from Korsakoff amnesia tend to have normal learning curves in simple associative (classical or operant) learning tasks. On the other hand, with more complex associations such as conditional discriminations or configural conditioning, impairment is clearly striking. How these patients deal with derived relations and stimulus equivalence has not been investigated yet and is the main issue of the present study.
With respect to the practical and theoretical relevance, we hope to enlarge our knowledge about implicit and explicit memory processes. This study has the potential of contributing to existing theorizing about anterograde amnesia. Also, this study can help us understand the behavior of these patients in a better way, leading to useful strategies for improving rehabilitation methods.