Applications of Collaborative Memory: Patterns of Success and Failure in Individuals with Hippocampal Amnesia

A growing body of work suggests that collaboration can benefit memory. In our work on the neural substrates of collaborative learning, we find that many of these benefits extend even to individuals with profound memory impairment. We review this line of work highlighting the benefits and limits of collaborative learning in memory impaired populations. Understanding the contexts and circumstances of success and failure in collaborative learning in individuals with memory impairment advances scientific knowledge of how distinct forms of memory contribute to specific aspects of collaborative learning. Our discovery that memory-impaired individuals can benefit from collaborative learning under some conditions points to the promise of collaborative learning situations in the rehabilitation of memory and learning impairments.