Hi Annette-
Never having watched "Monk"I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, but it sounds
like this show is the typical mis-representation of amnesia. First,
amnesia can be either retrograde (forget items prior to the trauma) or
anterograde (forget what happened after the trauma). In severe trauma
both can occur. While there are reported cases of people who claim to
have "forgotten who they are" I don't buy it. With the exception of
Global amnesia, where the trauma is so great that all (or almost all)
memories are lost I cannot immagine a plausible mechanism whereby "sense
of self" could be selectively excised while leaving the rest of memory
relatively unimpaired. If you buy into a Parallel Distributed Processing
(PDP) model of memory where all memories are interconnected then it
seems highly implausible that you could remember language, but not the
people who taught it to you, or remember how to drive a car, but have no
memory of where you first learned the skill. I classify cases of "I
can't remember who I am" under motivated forgetting not amnesia.
-Don.
Annette Taylor, Ph. D. wrote:
Hi Tipsters:
This week's episode of Monk featured Monk having a case of amnesia. I thought I
might use it for my intro course--both for the OCD components and the amnesia,
but I suspect that there was more wrong than right with the amnesia, but I
don't know enough about amnesia to know.
In the episode he receives as severe blow to the head and is tossed in the back
of a flatbed truck (already a gross inaccuracy because the driver did not check
his load before getting in the cab and pulling away...but that's not psychology
stuff).
So eventually the truck stops, Monk wakes up in another town and he doesn't know
who is he. His semantic memory is perfect but his episodic memory is not;
although he does still have OCD behaviors, but when questionned about them
makes up excuses. In one scene he separates all his food into separeate piles
and when asked why he is doing that he says it's a religious ritual. Anyway,
that aside, how does the course of amnesia usually go?
Also, at one point, back at the office, his psychiatrist is consulting with the
police on Monk missing status in his usual life and says he would be having a
dissociative episode. Now that sounds totally wrong to me. Right?
A little edification on the usual course of amnesia please.
Thanks
Annette
Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D.
Department of Psychology
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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