When Proper Names are Not Forgotten: Recall of Eponymous Medical Disorders

Abstract

Names are more difficult to recall than other facts about people such as occupations even when the words are nominally the same, e.g., Baker and baker. Subjects studied face photographs labeled with a surname and a medical diagnosis. Eponymous disorders were selected so that a given name could be used either as surname or diagnosis, e.g., Ms. Hodgkins or Hodgkin's disease. Nursing students (n = 24) tested in a within-subjects design recalled more eponymous diseases than surnames. There were few instances of confusing names and diseases, but names were often recalled to the wrong face. Education students (n = 18) recalled fewer diseases than did the nurses, and there was no difference in their recall of names and diseases. Nursing students tested in a between-groups design (n = 22 each) showed no impairment in name recall. The results suggest limitations in the role of meaningfulness in recall.