Identity matching to sample and exclusion performance in elderly with and without neurocognitive disorders
Brief identity-matching training lifts matching skills in older adults with NCD but leaves exclusion unchanged.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Camara et al. (2017) tested brief identity-matching training with older adults. Some had neurocognitive disorders. Others were neurotypical.
All adults learned to match three pairs of visual stimuli. The team then checked if the skill spread to new pictures. They also looked at exclusion responding.
What they found
Most adults with NCD got better at generalized identity matching after the short training. The neurotypical adults also improved.
Exclusion responding did not improve for either group. Training one skill did not create the other.
How this fits with other research
Brogård‐Antonsen et al. (2019) extends these results. They showed matching-to-sample helped an Alzheimer’s patient recognize family faces. The gains lasted one full year.
Kelly (2020) takes the idea further. The paper proposes adding AARRing-based tasks to boost executive functions in older adults. It builds on Camara’s 2017 data.
DeRoma et al. (2004) compared two teaching formats. Delayed-cue matching beat exclusion for kids with autism. Their finding lines up with Camara: exclusion needs its own program.
Why it matters
You can use quick identity-matching drills to shore up visual memory in older clients. Keep drills short and use three pairs to start. Do not assume exclusion will improve on its own. If both skills are goals, write separate programs and probe each one.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) affect complex processes of stimulus control, such as relational performance. The aims of this study were (a) to compare the performance of older adults with NCD with that of control older adults in generalized identity matching (GI) tests and in responding by exclusion probes and (b) to verify the effect of identity matching training on subsequent GI and exclusion tests, in older adults with NCD. Participants were 24 older adults (aged 60 to 92 years), eight without NCD (control group I [CG I]), and 16 with NCD: CG II, with accurate performance in the GI tests and the experimental group (EG), with low performance in these tests. After exclusion and GI tests with all participants, the EG underwent identity matching training with 3 pairs of visual stimuli, and exclusion and identity matching posttests. All participants of the CG I and CG II presented accurate performance in the tests. Seven of the 8 older adults of the EG achieved the learning criterion in the training and showed some improvement in the GI posttest; however, positive effects of the training were not observed in the exclusion posttests. Teaching procedures for identity matching in older adult patients with NCD can produce positive results; however, it is necessary to understand the relationship between cognitive decline and other relational performances.
Behavioral Interventions, 2017 · doi:10.1002/bin.1487