Effects of retroactive and proactive interference on word list recall in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia spectrum patients (N = 143) and healthy controls (N = 160) we re administered the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and tests of executive functioning to directly investigate the effects of proactive inte rference (PI) and retroactive interference (RI) on word list recall. It was hypothesized that by virtue of the predicted preferential association betw een executive functioning and RI (relative to PI), patients would demonstra te increased susceptibility to RI in their ability to recall word lists. Re sults indicated that patients show increased susceptibility to RI relative to PI. Furthermore, this difference appeared to be related to the frontally -mediated central executive functions that were preferentially associated w ith RI but not PI susceptibility.