Affiliations: [a] Departmen of Psychology Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla Colombia, Barranquilla, Colombia | [b] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA | [c] Department of Basic Psychology, Psychobiology and Behavioral Sciences' Methodology, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain | [d] Kessler Foundation Research Center, West Orange, NJ, USA | Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Carlos José De los Reyes Aragón, Departamento de Psicología, Universidad del Norte. Km 5 Vía Puerto Colombia. Barranquilla (Colombia), Barranquilla, Colombia. Tel.: +57 5 3509291; E-mail: cdelosreyes@uninorte.edu.co
Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the moderating effect of cognitive impairment (CI) on the usefulness of the generation effect to improve learning and memory in Hispanics with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sixty-one Hispanic individuals with TBI (29 without CI, 22 with mild to moderate CI, and 10 with severe CI) and 44 healthy controls (HC) were required to remember the last word in each of 32 sentences. Target words were presented in a self-generated and provided condition. Recall and recognition were examined immediately, after 30 minutes, and at one week. Individuals remembered and recalled significantly more words in the generated condition than the provided condition, regardless of group or time. The self-generation technique equally benefitted all participants regardless of TBI status or degree of CI. Future cognitive rehabilitation programs designed to improve short-term recall and recognition in Hispanic individuals with TBI should include the self-generation technique. Further research into the longer-term effects of the generation effects is warranted.
