Facilitating telephone number recall in a case of psychogenic amnesia

In the present case study, a middle-aged woman was admitted to the hospital with no identification and no recollection of her identity. Attempts by social and police agencies to recognize, or discover some clue about the patient, were unsuccessful. The behavioral interventions of modeling, reinforcement, and progressive relaxation were designed to induce telephone dialing behavior and telephone number recall. The positive outcome of the case is discussed in terms of spontaneous remission, and the effects of relaxation therapy, a physical-motoric non-verbal procedure on the recollection process of the amnesia victim.