孤独症个体的记忆与自我知识

Memory and Self-knowledge of Autism

本文从语义记忆-情景记忆角度综合了孤独症的记忆研究,探讨了孤独症个体的记忆特性。研究结果表明,孤独症个体的情景记忆(episodicmemory)存在选择性损伤,特别是高机能孤独症个体的情景记忆测验的成绩会依材料的呈现方式和意义相关程度等表现出不同程度的损伤。同时,他们的语义记忆(semanticmemory)相对完好,但和正常对照组语义记忆成绩之间的差异会随材料的性质而变化,这种差异并不显著。根据自我知识的存储方式以及孤独症的记忆特性,孤独症个体情景记忆中的自我知识丧失,语义记忆中所存储的自我知识则保存完好。孤独症个体虽然不能回忆与个人特质有关的个人行为,但是能回忆基于这些行为的关于自我的概括性知识。孤独症个体理解别人心理的能力严重受损,然而他们反映自己心理特性和状态的能力保持完好。

Some researches on autism's memory are reviewed, and the characteristics of autistic individuals are discussed in the perspective of the semantic memory-episodic memory system. It is suggested that, episodic memory of autism is selectively injured, especially of high-function autism, whose impairments of performances in tasks of episodic memory vary with the changes of the way of presenting materials, the related degree of materials' meaning, and so on. Meanwhile, their semantic memory is relatively intact; but there are still some differences between the autism group and the normal control group, even though not quite significant. According to the storing of self-knowledge and the properties of autism' s memory, the self-knowledge in autism' s episodic memory is supposed to be absent; but the self-knowledge stored in semantic memory is thought to be intact. Although the autistic individuals can not recall the personal behaviors related with personal traits, they can recall general knowledge of self-based on these unrecalled behaviors. Autists are capable of reflecting their own mental characters and mental states; at the same time, they have serious impairments in understanding others' mental states.