P300 as an index of recognition in a standard and difficult match-to-sample test: A model of amnesia in normal adults

Earlier research has supported the use of a P300 (P3)-based procedure to de tect simulated amnesia. In the present experiment, an attempt was made to m odel the behavior and event-related potentials (ERPs) that amnestic patient s might demonstrate with relatively easy recognition memory tests, by incre asing the difficulty of a match-to-sample recognition memory test taken by 18 memory-unimpaired undergraduates. None of the participants in the modele d amnesic condition were classified as having intact recognition memory as the result of P3-based intra-individual tests (specificity = 100%). The res ults support the utility of a P3 procedure for the detection of malingering by demonstrating the procedure to be a valid measure of impaired recogniti on with this model of amnesia.