ld not get the point of a test story. Moreover, she failed in
retention tests without there being any evidence of anything like a
marked fundamental retention disorder, such as we find in Korsakoff
psychosis. It seems that these results are best termed defects in
attention, which chiefly interfere with the apprehension of more
difficult tasks. As we shall see later, this seems to be rather
characteristic of these cases. Another point which should be mentioned
is the fact that her reaction to questions which she was unable to
answer (such as matters which referred to her amnesic periods) was
peculiar, inasmuch as she did not only not try to think them out, but
seemed indifferent to her incapacity, simply leaving the question
unanswered. This too, as we shall see later, is characteristic. Laura
A., at a time when she could be made to reply, merely repeated the
question, again a reaction of least resistance. The same patient
sometimes asked, "Where am I?" Mary C. (Case 7) made similar queries.
Although she was at times approximately oriented, she would say, "I
don't know where I am," or "I can't realize where I am," or more
pointedly, "I can't take in my surroundings." She often did not answer
and sometimes seemed bewildered by the questions. Henrietta H. (Case 8)
again showed some defect of orientation and mistakes in calculation, and
above all, marked mistakes in writing (for Manhattan State
Hospital--Manhaton Hotspal). A special feature here is that this
occurred immediately after she had been quite talkative, but suddenly
had relapsed into a dull state. Anna G. (Case 1), during the third phase
of her psychosis, showed the following: Although she was approximately
oriented and answered promptly simple questions; e.g., about orientation
or simple calculation, she, like these other patients, simply remained
silent when more difficult intellectual tasks were required of her
(more difficult calculations); or when she was asked how long she had
been here (which involved data that could not be available to her, owing
to her amnesia); or when questions were put to her regarding her
feelings or the condition she had passed through. On the other hand, she
sometimes gave appropriate replies in the words "yes" or "no," but it
was difficult to say whether these answers did not also represent the
path of least resistance.

We will finally take up the last phase of Margaret C. (Case 10).
Although she was entirely oriented, there was