Face Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME)
Background
The Face Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) is a cognitive-behavioral test used to evaluate subtle memory changes associated with preclinical Alzheimer Disease (AD). The original FNAME test was published by Dorene Rentz and colleagues in 2011 and tested participant's free recall and cued recall memory of people's name and occupation memory of 16 faces in immediate and delayed recall trials.
The test was further fine-tuned in 2014 by Kathryn Papp and colleagues to provide a more suitable memory assessment for patients with progressing AD. The resulting test, the FNAME-12, runs the procedure with fewer face stimuli (12 instead of 16), drops the free recall trials but adds several recognition tests, such as a face and name/occupation recognition tests with three provided options.
The initial FNAME procedures were developed as paper and pencil tests and administered as well as scored by trained test administrators. In 2023, Dorene Rentz and colleagues published a simplified touchscreen version of the FNAME-12. This simplified version only tested face-name associations (dropping the occupation assocations) with a face recognition test, face-cued name recall test, and a name recognition test during after a long (30minutes) delay. Immediate cued recall tests were skipped. Cued name recall responses were collected via a button press of the first letter of the associated name.
Millisecond's offers implementations of the FNAME (also referred to as the FNAME-16) as well as the FNAME-12. The Millisecond FNAME-16 provides 16 placeholder face stimuli and follows the published 2011 paper-pencil procedure. The FNAME-12 runs with a set of original stimuli by Papp et al (2014).
Task Procedure (FNAME-12)
The FNAME-12 procedure is set up as individual task scripts that can be combined by a batch script. The default batch script calls the following
5 scripts in order:
Encoding: Participants run through two encoding rounds of 12 face-name-occupation pairs that each ends with immediate face-cued name and occupation recall. Each face is presented for 7 seconds together with a name and an occupation. The images are presented in fixed order (with both rounds using a different fixed order). For the immediate face-cued recall trials, each face is first presented with a textbox for name recall before presenting a textbox for occupation recall.
Short Delay: This script simply runs a script that displays a 5-minute timer. The script can easily be replaced by any other short task script from the Millisecond library.
Short Delay CR: Participants work through 12 face-cued name and occupation recall trials. Each face is first presented with a textbox for name recall before presenting a textbox for occupation recall. The sequence in which faces are presented is fixed for all participants.
Long Delay: This script simply runs a script that displays a 30-minute timer. The script can easily be replaced by any other task script from the Millisecond library.
Long Delay CR30: The 12 faces are presented in fixed sequence. Each face is tested with a) a face recognition test (three options that provide the familiar face and two new faces), b) a name and occupation face-cued recall trial, c) a name recognition test (three options with the correct name, the name of one of the other target faces, and a new name) and finally d) an occupation recognition test (three options with the correct occupation, the occupation of one of the other target faces and a new occupation).
The batch setup can easily be edited to drop any of these phases (e.g. the short delay phase scripts). The implementation further allows researchers to set the number of encoding rounds (one or two), to skip immediate cued recall trials, to skip occupation recall, and to allow for first-letter name/occupation recall (see Rentz et al, 2023). All task instructions are provided in visual and audio format.
What it Measures
The FNAME measures face-paired name (and occupation) memory
Psychological domains
- Episodic Memory: Ability to remember a specific personal event in time.
- Recognition Memory: Capability to correctly identify previously encountered stimuli among unfamiliar distractors.
- Visual Long-Term Memory: Durability and storage capacity of high-detail visual representations over time
Main Performance Metrics
- Correct Counts: Total number of correct responses across all tested phases; main memory measure
Psychiatric Conditions
The following patient groups have been assessed with the FNAME-16 and/or FNAME-12
- Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease
- Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD)
- Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
- Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)
The Face Name Associative Memory Exam developed by Rentz et al (2011).
References
Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Face Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME).
Naveh-Benjamin, M., Guez, J., Kilb, A., Reedy, S., & Zacks, Rose T. (2004). The Associative Memory Deficit of Older Adults: Further Support Using Face-Name Associations. Psychology and Aging, 19(3), 541-546.
Rentz, Amariglio, Becker, Frey, Olson, Frishe, . . . Sperling. (2011). Face-name associative memory performance is related to amyloid burden in normal elderly. Neuropsychologia, 49(9), 2776-2783.
De Vogelaere, F., Santens, P., Achten, E., Boon, P., & Vingerhoets, G. (2010). Hippocampal activation during face–name associative memory encoding: Blocked versus permuted design. Neuroradiology, 52(1), 25-36.
Amariglio, R., Frishe, K., Olson, L., Wadsworth, L., Lorius, N., Sperling, R., & Rentz, D. (2012). Validation of the Face Name Associative Memory Exam in cognitively normal older individuals. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 34(6), 580-587.