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The Benefit of Forgetting in Thinking and Remembering
Abstract
Forgetting is a surprising and unintended consequence of remembering. Research on retrieval-induced forgetting has shown that retrieval of one item in memory can cause the forgetting of other items in memory. This forgetting is argued to be the consequence of an inhibitory process that underlies the ability to overcome interference during retrieval. The research reviewed here suggests that individuals who exhibit more retrieval-induced forgetting are more capable of overcoming interference in other contexts as well (e.g., creative problem solving). Ironically, it appears that thinking and remembering rely at least in part on a process that underlies forgetting.
... If RIF is inhibition-driven, as proposed by inhibition theory, then individuals with inhibitioncontrol deficits should not exhibit RIF. However, recent studies have shown that individuals with inhibition-control deficits, such as children, older adults, and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), also exhibit RIF (Aslan & Bäuml, 2010, 2011Storm & White, 2010). Based on these findings, researchers have proposed interference theory to explain the mechanism of RIF. ...
... From this perspective, a close relationship may exist between cognitive inhibition and RIF. Moreover, the ability to inhibit competing or unwanted memories is relevant to achieve crucial adaptive functions, such as emotion regulation, and is therefore closely tied to both cognitive efficiency and psychological health (Nørby, 2015;Penolazzi et al., 2020;Storm, 2011). Consequently, a comprehensive investigation of the effect of CCB on RIF in undergraduate students with varying levels of cognitive inhibition not only advances our understanding of the mechanism of RIF in undergraduate students, but also contributes to a more profound comprehension of the relationship between cognitive inhibition and memory. ...
... In addition, the current study's results strongly support the interference dependence of RIF. Interference dependence (Aslan & Bäuml, 2010, 2011Ikeda et al., 2016;Reppa et al., 2017) suggests that RIF occurs only when Rp-items generate interference during retrieval practice and trigger inhibitory processing; conversely, if Rp-items do not, RIF does not occur even when retrieval practice is performed on Rp + items Storm et al., 2008). The results of the present study confirm that participants with high cognitive inhibition exhibited RIF only in strong-item competitive intensity and exhibited no RIF in ...
Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) occurs when retrieving items from memory impairs subsequent recall of related but not retrieved items. Theoretical debate exists regarding the mechanisms of RIF in terms of inhibition versus interference, which may stem from the fact that previous studies on individual differences in RIF have neglected the correlated costs and benefits (CCB) problem. To investigate whether RIF in undergraduate students with different levels of cognitive inhibition was affected by CCB, this study considered item competitive intensity. Participants retrieved low-intensity items under strong-item competitive intensity and the reverse under weak-item competitive intensity. The results showed that participants with low cognitive inhibition exhibited no RIF at both strong- and weak-item competitive intensities, while those with high cognitive inhibition only exhibited RIF at the strong-item competitive intensity. Competitive intensity is effective for testing and discriminating the confounding effects of RIF by CCB. It can be posited that, regardless of the cognitive inhibition levels of undergraduate students, inhibition is the mechanism of RIF and is not affected by CCB.
... Knowledge and experience are tools for creative expansion and efficient problem-solving but may also confine exploration of diverse alternatives when "novel" ideas are merely reiterations of stored information (Alipour, Faizi, Moradi, & Akrami, 2018). Given that successfully combining information in original and useful ways can yield creative ideas and solutions (Mednick, 1962), it is not surprising that constraining this process via related examples has been shown to impede creativity (Beaty, Christensen, Benedek, Silvia, & Schacter, 2017;Chrysikou, Motyka, Nigro, Yang, & Thompson-Schill, 2016;Chrysikou & Weisberg, 2005;George & Wiley, 2019, 2020Jansson & Smith, 1991;Lloyd-Cox, Christensen, Silvia, & Beaty, 2020;Smith, 2003;Smith, Ward, & Schumacher, 1993;Storm, 2011;Storm & Angello, 2010;Ward, 1994;Ward, Patterson, & Sifonis, 2004). ...
... Fixation occurs when a source of interference -such as examples or prior knowledge -interferes with one's ability to successfully execute cognitive tasks (Smith, 2003;Storm, 2011). Although much work has examined constraints on associative thought processes in verbal creative cognition tasks, less neuroscientific research has attempted to constrain creative associations through fixation in the visual domain (Lloyd-Cox et al., 2020). ...
... For example, the verbal Remote Associates Test (RAT) of convergent thinking (Mednick, 1962), requires identifying a common associate that links a triad of words (e.g., print, berry, bird = blue). Several studies have shown that participants generate fewer correct solutions after studying example word associates (e.g., "print-cheetah," "berry-straw," "bird-robin"), compared to when examples are not provided (Luft et al., 2018;Smith & Blankenship, 1991;Storm, 2011;Storm & Angello, 2010). However, some evidence suggests that the fixating effects of examples in both convergent and divergent thinking may be diminished by forgetting. ...
A large body of research has revealed that viewing example image stimuli tends to constrain creative idea generation. However, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying such visual fixation in creative cognition are unclear. In the present experiment, we explored whether example images impacted creative imagination and patterns of neural activity within brain regions associated with visual object recognition. Participants first viewed example images (ambiguous line drawings) accompanied by high-constraint and low-constraint labels. High-constraint labels resembled the line drawings, whereas low constraint labels did not. Next, participants imagined new labels for the same line drawings, with the initial labels removed. Consistent with our predictions, semantic distance analysis comparing cue labels to newly generated labels showed lower average semantic distance (i.e., less creative ideas) on high-constraint trials compared to low-constraint trials. Using representational similarity analysis, we also demonstrated that neural pattern similarity was anticorrelated (less similar) from object recognition to high-constraint imagination trials within the right inferior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and right superior occipital gyrus. Broadly, these findings suggest that salient visual examples may guide the formation of strong mental representations that constrain creative imagination. This research also offers a first step toward identifying neurocognitive signatures associated with the effortful process of producing new, creative ideas following exposure to fixating examples – particularly at the early level of object recognition/representation in the ventral visual stream.
... While the goal of memory is usually to remember as much information as possible, we sometimes forget important information that has dire consequences if forgotten (e.g., forgetting a child's allergies; see Murphy et al., 2022;Murphy & Castel, 2021b; see also Castel & Rhodes, 2020). Although forgetting commonly occurs as an inadvertent result of interference, forgetting can be strategic and useful (see Storm, 2011). For example, remembering where you parked your car yesterday is not very useful for finding it today (see Bjork, 2014;Nørby, 2015 for other benefits of forgetting). ...
... The lack of interaction between survival processing and directed forgetting in the present study suggests that although both may be adaptive forms of memory (see Murphy & Castel, 2021a, 2022bNairne et al., 2019;Storm, 2011), these processes are not necessarily related. Survival processing benefits memory by promoting elaboration (see Kroneisen & Erdfelder, 2011;Nairne & Pandeirada, 2016), planning (Klein et al., 2011), and self-referential processing (Klein, 2012). ...
In a recently published study, (Parker, A., Parkin, A., & Dagnall, N. (2021). Effects of survival processing on list method directed forgetting. Memory (Hove, England), 29(5), 645-661) examined directed forgetting in a survival processing context using the list-method directed forgetting procedure. (Parker, A., Parkin, A., & Dagnall, N. (2021). Effects of survival processing on list method directed forgetting. Memory (Hove, England), 29(5), 645-661) found that the costs of directed forgetting were greater when engaging in survival processing than when making moving relevance or pleasantness ratings. However, according to most current accounts of directed forgetting, engaging in survival processing should not have enhanced the directed forgetting effect but rather should not have impacted the directed forgetting effect. In the present study, we further investigated how survival processing impacts directed forgetting using both the list (Experiment 1) and item method of directed forgetting (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we did not replicate the findings of (Parker, A., Parkin, A., & Dagnall, N. (2021). Effects of survival processing on list method directed forgetting. Memory (Hove, England), 29(5), 645-661) - that the directed forgetting effect is enhanced when engaging in survival processing. Rather, we demonstrated that making survival ratings and moving ratings yielded a similar cost of directed forgetting for List 1 items. In Experiment 2, survival processing provided an overall memory benefit (but not when recalling to-be-remembered and to-be-forgotten items in separate recall tests) but did not differentially impact to-be-remembered and to-be-forgotten words. Thus, we did not find evidence that survival processing influences directed forgetting.
... Schematic of the standard retrieval-practice paradigm [20] Creative problem solving is a proven method for approaching a problem or a challenge in an imaginative and innovative way [21]. In the psychological experiments, Remote Associate Test [22] is usually used to evaluate one' s ability of creative problem solving. ...
... RAT problem-solving performance observed by Storm and Angello[20] ...
... Alternative views suggest that a single activation-based measure is insufficient when cues trigger more than one candidate for responsethere must be an additional mechanism to resolve the competition (Bjork, 1989;MacLeod et al., 2003). We and other researchers have argued that retrieval of target memories is promoted by active suppression of interfering alternatives (e.g., Anderson & Spellman, 1995;Aslan & Bäuml, 2011;Healey, Campbell, Hasher, & Ossher, 2010;Healey, Ngo, & Hasher, 2014;Norman, Newman, & Detre, 2007;Storm, 2011). This process serves to narrow the focus of activation to the target memory trace. ...
... Previous research thus provides behavioral evidence of suppression, which coincides with enhanced late positive slow wave over frontal areas. However, studies to date have mostly used explicit procedures to investigate suppression and often required the intention to not think about or not remember some items (Blaxton & Neely, 1983;Healey et al., 2010;Higgins & Johnson, 2009;Radvansky et al., 2005;Storm, 2011). In several studies, we recently reported evidence of behavioral suppression effects in a truly incidental situation using naming time (Healey, Hasher, & Campbell, 2013;Healey et al., 2014) and lexical decision (Ngo & Hasher, 2017) as implicit measures. ...
The electrophysiological evidence for suppression to date primarily draws upon traditional retrieval-induced forgetting and Think/No-Think paradigms, which involve strategic and intentional restriction of thought. Here event-related potential (ERP) signatures of suppression were examined using a novel task, which unlike traditional paradigms, does not include an initial priming step or intentional thought restraint. Participants were instructed to verbally generate semantically related responses to cue words (e.g., "PIZZA"), and unrelated responses to others. According to an inhibitory account of interference resolution, semantic competition from automatically activated target words must be resolved in order to generate an unrelated response, whereas no resolution is required for generating related responses. In a subsequent phase, accessibility for target words (e.g., "PEPPERONI") that required suppression, words that did not require suppression, as well as new control words was measured using a lexical decision task. We observed a sustained late positivity for unrelated responses in the generation task, and early negative amplitudes of suppressed items in the lexical decision task. These findings are consistent with inhibitory mechanisms operating at retrieval to suppress competitors and show that such processes operate on automatically activated items that are not presented in the context of an experiment, representative of retrieval situations that occur in everyday life.
... MPB - (Luria, 1968;Parker, Cahill & McGaugh, 2006;Storm, 2011).Enquanto lembrar informações relevantes seja algo imprescindível para o comportamento adaptável, esquecer informações irrelevantes também é uma função altamente adaptativa . Um olhar evolucionista sobre o esquecimento vai rotulá-lo como um fator adaptativo na medida que informações irrelevantes não permanecem para sempre nos cérebros das pessoas, se faz também a possibilidade de que eventualmente outras memórias -mais relevantes -possam ser registradas e mais facilmente recuperadas (Roediger, Weinstein & Agarwal, 2010;Storm, 2011). ...
... Enquanto lembrar informações relevantes seja algo imprescindível para o comportamento adaptável, esquecer informações irrelevantes também é uma função altamente adaptativa . Um olhar evolucionista sobre o esquecimento vai rotulá-lo como um fator adaptativo na medida que informações irrelevantes não permanecem para sempre nos cérebros das pessoas, se faz também a possibilidade de que eventualmente outras memórias -mais relevantes -possam ser registradas e mais facilmente recuperadas (Roediger, Weinstein & Agarwal, 2010;Storm, 2011). ...
Forgetting is the inability to retrieve information that could be retrieved before.
The Interference Theory suggests that information tends to dispute its existence when
learned by individuals, so forgetting would be justified by the dispute of information
prior to the entry of the target memories (Proactive Interference) and subsequent to that
entry (Retroactive Interference). Currently, there is a hypothesis that memory
consolidation is impaired by the introduction of tasks demanding cognitive effort during
the time it is occurring. The present study aimed to investigate whether the loss of
information related to cognitive effort could be explained by interference in memory
consolidation or because of the limited ability of individuals' mental resources to control
interfering stimuli. To measure cognitive effort we registered pupil dilation. Experiment
1 (N - 20) replicated our previous study that demonstrated a possible non - existence of
the interfering effect on memory consolidation. Experiment 2 (N - 22) tested how the
tasks performed at the initial moment of memory consolidation could influence recall
by interfering with more labile memories, but this effect was not fund. In Experiment 3
(N - 30) the participants performed tasks over a longer period of time, testing whether
loss of information would come from RI in memory consolidation or cognitive overload,
indicating the possibility of the second hypothesis being more correct. Finally, in
Experiment 4 (N - 45), we tested in groups how different tasks interfere in consolidation
causing a cognitive overload. The results of our study indicate that there is no
interfering effect of cognitive effort on memory consolidation, but rather a proactive
and retroactive effect on the retrieval of information that people have for evocation.
... Não conseguir recordar informações antes aprendidas é provavelmente uma das mais comuns afl ições pelas quais as pessoas passam em seu dia a dia e, talvez por ser tão comum, tende a ser negligenciada como fator de imprescindível importância científi ca. Apesar de ser habitualmente rotulado como deletério e de causar certa exasperação, é possível também considerar o esquecimento como um fator adaptativo, sendo um processo necessário para a renovação de informações e a consequente adaptação do comporta-mento dos indivíduos ao ambiente, possibilitando também que eventualmente outras memórias possam ser registradas e selecionadas (Roediger, Weinstein, & Agarwal, 2010;Storm, 2011). É possível considerar que o esquecimento também possui um papel autoprotetor, pois a impossibilidade de esquecer informações irrelevantes e inúteis poderia resultar em grande difi culdade de acessar informações específi cas e valiosas de forma efetiva (Pergher & Stein, 2003). ...
... É possível considerar que o esquecimento também possui um papel autoprotetor, pois a impossibilidade de esquecer informações irrelevantes e inúteis poderia resultar em grande difi culdade de acessar informações específi cas e valiosas de forma efetiva (Pergher & Stein, 2003). Ademais, os raros relatos de indivíduos com uma capacidade de memória que os torna quase incapazes de esquecer revelam que esta condição pode ser tão exasperadora quanto a incapacidade de lembrar (Luria, 1968;Parker, Cahill, & McGaugh, 2006;Storm, 2011). ...
El olvido es una condición experimentada diariamente por individuos y un concepto de suma importancia para la ciencia de la memoria. En el presente estudio algunas teorías que tratan de definir la ciencia de olvido serán discutidas y aquí nos centramos en la teoría de la interferencia, especialmente en la interferencia retroactiva (IR). El IR es la interferencia que se produce cuando se introduce una información o tarea entre la presentación de una información y su posterior recordación. Recientemente viene la propuesta de que la IR es el resultado de la interrupción de otro proceso, llamado consolidación de la memoria. Consolidación de la memoria es el proceso por el cual ocurre la estabilización de la información, a partir de procesos neuronales posteriores al registro inicial de información que contribuyen al registro definitivo - o por lo menos, más duraderos - de esta información. El IR podría teóricamente perturbar estos procesos posteriores al aprendizaje, lo que resulta en la pérdida de estas informaciones. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo proponer una investigación mas profunda de este tema para comprender mejor este importante concepto, dirigido a profundizar el conocimiento de esta hipótesis y de otras posibles causas del olvido.
... An inability to recall previously learned information is probably one of the most common affl ictions experienced by individuals in their daily lives, and perhaps because it is so common, it tends to be neglected as a factor of vital scientifi c importance. Although forgetting is usually labeled as harmful and causing exasperation, forgetting can also be considered an adaptive factor; it is a necessary process for refreshing information and subsequently adapting individual behavior to the environment, allowing other memories to eventually be recorded and selected (Roedi-ger, Weinstein, & Agarwal, 2010;Storm, 2011). Forgetting can also play a self-protective role because the inability to forget irrelevant and useless information could make it diffi cult to effectively access specifi c and valuable information (Pergher & Stein, 2003). ...
... Forgetting can also play a self-protective role because the inability to forget irrelevant and useless information could make it diffi cult to effectively access specifi c and valuable information (Pergher & Stein, 2003). Furthermore, the rare reports of individuals with a memory capacity that makes it almost impossible for them to forget reveal that the inability to forget can be as exasperating as the inability to remember (Luria, 1968;Parker, Cahill, & McGaugh, 2006;Storm, 2011). ...
Although experimenting with forgetting is complex, forgetting is not only a condition experienced by individuals every day but also an extremely important concept in memory science. Some theories that attempt to define the science of forgetting are presented in this study; however, we have focused here on the theory of interference, retroactive interference (RI) in particular. RI is the interference that occurs when a task or piece of information is inserted between the presentation of target information and its subsequent recall. Although RI can be explained as competition between items, some have now proposed that it results from the interruption of the process of memory consolidation, through which information become stable; neural processes following the initial recording of information contribute to the definitive-or, at least, longer lasting-record of this information. RI disrupts post-learning processes, resulting in the loss of these materials. This study proposes a deeper investigation of RI and memory consolidation to obtain a better understanding of this important concept, seeking to deepen knowledge of this hypothesis and other possible causes of forgetting.
... Importantly, over the last thirty years, a set of cognitive models of memory has gained prominence, in which a role for cognitive control in both retrieval and forgetting is postulated. As a result, the concept of forgetting has also been profoundly revised, from a limitation or failure of our memory systems to an active process that benefits from cognitive control to allow for an adaptive and efficient functioning in every-day life (Nørby, 2015;Storm, 2011). In particular, it has been hypothesized that inhibitory mechanisms (putatively similar to those involved in response selection in perceptual and motor tasks and therefore sharing common neural substrates in the prefrontal cortex, PFC) may be responsible for a peculiar instance of forgetting that is detected when retrieving an information from our memory storage impairs later recall of related information, compared to unrelated ones. ...
... Item Type Inhibitory processing underlying RIF has been associated to a range of abilities closely tied to our wellbeing and cognitive efficiency, ranging from working memory to creative problem solving (Nørby, 2015;Storm, 2011). Therefore, it is important to note that it has been found to be impaired in a broad range of disorders traditionally characterized by impulsivity, worry, or rumination (e.g., in obsessive-compulsive disorder, Demeter, Keresztes, Harsányi, Csigó, & Racsmány, 2014; in clinical depression, Groome & Sterkaj, 2010;in schizophrenia, Soriano, Jiménez, Román, & Bajo, 2009;in ADHD, Storm & White, 2010; in substance-related disorders, Stramaccia, Penolazzi, Monego, et al., 2017;in Anorexia Nervosa, Stramaccia, Penolazzi, Libardi, et al., 2017), where alterations of PFC functioning have also been reported. ...
Retrieving information from episodic memory may result in later inaccessibility of related but task-irrelevant information. This phenomenon, known as retrieval-induced forgetting, is thought to represent a specific instance of broader cognitive control mechanisms, that would come into play during memory retrieval, whenever non-target competing memories interfere with recall of target items. Recent neuroimaging studies have shown an association between these mechanisms and the activity of the right Prefrontal Cortex. However, so far, few studies have attempted at establishing a causal relationship between this brain region and behavioural measures of cognitive control over memory. To address this missing link, we delivered transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the right Inferior Frontal Gyrus (rIFG) during a standard retrieval-practice paradigm with category-exemplar word pairs. Across two experiments, tDCS abolished retrieval-induced forgetting to different degrees, compared to the sham control group whereas no effects of stimulation emerged in an ancillary measure of motor stopping ability. Moreover, influence analyses on specific subsets of the experimental material revealed diverging patterns of results, which depended upon the different categories employed in the retrieval-practice paradigm. Overall, the results support the view that rIFG has a causal role in the control of interference in memory retrieval and highlight the often underestimated role of stimulus material in affecting the effects. The present findings are therefore relevant in enriching our knowledge about memory functions from both a theoretical and methodological perspective.
... Several decades of research have shown that activation of competing traces in memory interferes with retrieval of a target memory (e.g., Anderson, 1974;Anderson & Neely, 1996;Postman, 1971). Many researchers have argued that suppression is required to control or down-regulate interfering memories (e.g., Aslan & Bäuml, 2011;Healey, Campbell, Hasher, & Ossher, 2010;Healey, Ngo, & Hasher, 2014;Norman, Newman, & Detre, 2007;Storm, 2011). ...
... The competitors were named no faster than control words that had not been presented. This was taken as evidence that in resolving competition, items are suppressed at least to their pre-exposure semantic memory baseline level (see also, for example, Blaxton & Neely, 1983;Healey, Hasher, & Campbell, 2013;Higgins & Johnson, 2009;Storm, 2011). ...
Interference between competing memory traces is a common cause of memory failure. Recent research has demonstrated a suppression mechanism that operates at retrieval to resolve interference. Using an adaptation of the suppression paradigm in Healey, Ngo, and Hasher [(2014). Below-baseline suppression of competitors during interference resolution by younger but not older adults. Psychological Science, 25(1), 145-151. doi: 10.1177/0956797613501169 ], we tested whether the ability to suppress competing memory traces varies with the synchrony between optimal arousal period and time of testing. We replicate the below-baseline suppression effect for young adults tested at optimal times of day, and present novel evidence that they do not show competitor suppression during non-optimal times of day. In fact, competitors are actually strengthened at non-optimal times. Our results suggest that the ability to resolve interference by suppression varies with circadian arousal.
... After quantitatively reviewing the existing literature, Murayama, Miyatsu, Buchli, and Storm (2014) concluded that retrieval-induced forgetting is likely to be a multifarious phenomenon, resulting from multiple mechanisms with the particular role of any specific mechanism dependent on the nature of the paradigm employed to measure it, but that the preponderance of the evidence seems to suggest that inhibition plays at least some role in causing retrieval-induced forgetting. Storm (2011) has argued that the inhibitory process presumed to underlie retrieval-induced forgetting should facilitate performance on any type of task in which old and irrelevant information interferes with the task objective. In support of this conjecture, retrieval-induced forgetting has been found to correlate with measures of working memory capacity (Aslan & Bäuml, 2011), stop-signal reaction time (Schilling, Storm, & Anderson, 2014), and the ability to generate more positive than negative autobiographical memories (Storm & Jobe, 2012). ...
... Research has suggested that inhibition plays an important role in allowing people to overcome interference and mental fixation (for reviews, see Anderson, 2003;Storm, 2011;Storm et al., 2015;Storm & Levy, 2012). In trying to think of something new and creative, people are likely to experience interference from old ideas and thus need a way to get around those ideas. ...
Four experiments examined participants' ability to remember their own ideas in a modified Alternative Uses Task. Participants were asked to generate uses for objects, and on half of the trials participants were then asked to think of more uses. Memory for the initial uses they generated was then tested via a cued-recall task. Results demonstrated that participants forgot their initial uses as a consequence of thinking of new uses (referred to as the thinking-induced forgetting effect), and this effect persisted even when participants chose the subset of uses they thought were the most creative and to be remembered. The only scenario in which uses were protected from forgetting was when they were required to use their uses as hints for generating more ideas. Together, these findings demonstrate that one's own ideas are susceptible to forgetting when additional ideas must be generated, indicating that thinking is a modifier of memory despite one's motivation to preserve their ideas.
... However, current evaluation paradigms are limited, typically failing to consider the extent of forgetting, instead simply unlearning all related knowledge regarding factual instances. Psychological research (ROEDI-GER III et al., 2010;Storm, 2011) emphasizes that forgetting is a natural and necessary process that helps focus on essential knowledge. Education literature (Sharek and Wiebe, 2011;Sha et al., 2024) also suggests that regulating the extent of forgetting can enhance learning. ...
... While recalling valuable information may be a sign of responsible remembering, forgetting is also a critical component of a functional memory system (see Storm, 2011). For example, remembering where you parked your car last week is not very helpful for finding your car today. ...
In our everyday lives, we must remember important information, especially if there are consequences for forgetting. In this review, I discuss recent work on responsible remembering : the strategic and effortful prioritization of important information with consequences for forgetting. Thus far, research regarding responsible remembering has revealed several key factors and mechanisms that work together to enhance memory for important information that will continue to be refined: the identification and selection of what to remember (metacognitive reflectivity), the forgetting of less important information to facilitate memory for items that do need to be remembered (responsible forgetting), the functional prioritization of attention at the expense of competing factors (responsible attention), and the selective recall of important information via efficient retrieval strategies (responsible retrieval). Together, these functions form a cohesive system that aims to selectively prioritize, encode, and recall information that is deemed important based on its anticipated utility or the consequences of forgetting, and considering the importance of information may be a critical memory adaptation as we age. Specifically, if younger and older adults learn to self-assess and prioritize important information that has negative consequences if forgotten, engage in strategic forgetting, efficiently allocate their attentional resources, and utilize effective retrieval operations, memory for said important information can be enhanced.
... Since then, much research has been focused on exploring and adjusting factors to mitigate forgetting [10,135]. However, forgetting is also posed in psychology as a natural and necessary process that allows humans and animals to prioritise information [181,201]. Jorge Luis Borges illustrated the role of forgetting and memory for the human experience in "Funes the Memorious" [27]. As Funes is unable to forget anything, leading to a state where the abundance of detail in his memories makes it difficult to generalise, abstract, or prioritise information. ...
This survey investigates the multifaceted nature of forgetting in machine learning, drawing insights from neuroscientific research that posits forgetting as an adaptive function rather than a defect, enhancing the learning process and preventing overfitting. This survey focuses on the benefits of forgetting and its applications across various machine learning sub-fields that can help improve model performance and enhance data privacy. Moreover, the paper discusses current challenges, future directions, and ethical considerations regarding the integration of forgetting mechanisms into machine learning models.
... This mechanism satisfies the requirement of storage capacity and retrieval efficacy for memory and can be viewed as a factory setting that chronically brings the brain system back to its default state at a low level. In addition, environmental and evolutionary fitness require individuals to reduce the recurring and unnecessary or unwanted presentation of certain past experiences through an intrinsically active forgetting mechanism [48,49]. What is more, this adaptive forgetting may be a distinguishing feature of exceptionally creative individuals, who can often move quickly from unsuccessful ideas to more successful ones, and who are adept at reducing the habitual, logical, and mental distractions inherent in their daily routines [4,50]. ...
Animals are required to handle daily massive amounts of information in an ever-changing environment, and the resulting memories and experiences determine their survival and development, which is critical for adaptive evolution. However, intrinsic forgetting, which actively deletes irrelevant information, is equally important for memory acquisition and consolidation. Recently, it has been shown that Rac1 activity plays a key role in intrinsic forgetting, maintaining the balance of the brain's memory management system in a controlled manner. In addition, dysfunctions of Rac1-dependent intrinsic forgetting may contribute to memory deficits in neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Here, these new findings will provide insights into the neurobiology of memory and forgetting, pathological mechanisms and potential therapies for brain disorders that alter intrinsic forgetting mechanisms.
... People want to overcome the forgetting stuff or events, but forgetting as needed to adapt to our lives. The people will have control over their thought and emotion and be capable of conducting creative problem solving [15]. ...
Forgetting is adaptive because it decreases future interference (a conflict between information in memory), and it enables selectivity of information recollection. Thus, relevant information can be activated, and irrelevant information can be inhibited. Memory inhibition is the ability to override memory as a whole or a part of it, with or without intention. This conceptual paper will provide an in-depth literature review based on a few empirical types of research that provide evidence that information in memory can be inhibited and the attempt to impede memory would hinder the information retrieval later. Within this study, the author identified various empirical research that inhibition of the memory is possible through (a) retrieval-induced forgetting, (b) directed forgetting, and (c) direct suppression: think and no-think paradigm. In addition, research gaps and limitations are identified, which would provide additional information for extended research in the future.
... The present experiments may have important implications. As discussed recently by Fawcett and Hulbert (2020) and Storm (2011), forgetting may serve many purposes within our daily lives (e.g., updating long-term memory, overcoming mental fixation), and as such, identifying strategies like exercise that may facilitate this effect, is a worthwhile endeavor. ...
Accumulating research has shown that acute exercise can enhance memory function. Although counterintuitive, acute exercise may also facilitate aspects of forgetting. Specifically, retrieving a subset of items from memory can facilitate the retention of retrieved items (retrieval practice) and inhibit the subsequent retrieval of non-retrieved items from the same category (retrieval-induced forgetting; RIF). Given that acute exercise has been shown to enhance cognition-related inhibition, acute exercise may facilitate RIF, which was evaluated in three experiments. In Experiment 1, a sample of 180 young adults completed either a control (N = 60), moderate-intensity acute exercise (N = 57), or vigorous-intensity acute exercise session (N = 63). Both acute exercise sessions lasted 20 min and occurred prior to the study list. Participants then completed a standard RIF protocol, with the final test occurring via a recognition task. Acute exercise, regardless of intensity, had no effect on RIF. Experiment 2 (N = 225) was similar to Experiment 1 but used a cued recall final test, and also showed no effects of acute exercise on RIF. In Experiment 3 (N = 158), two cued recall tests were implemented, with acute exercise occurring between the two tests. Acute exercise, but not a control scenario, preserved the RIF effect across the cued recall assessments. These findings suggest that acute exercise prior to study may not influence RIF, but when positioned between two recall assessments, acute exercise may preserve the RIF effect over time.
... Many people believe they have an unusually terrible ability to remember vital information; from facts, to faces, to past experiences. Memory scholars know how common these pessimistic beliefs are because members of the public-and indeed our own friends and family members-are frequently eager to tell us about their "problems" when they learn that we study memory (e.g., Storm, 2011). This apparently widespread lack of faith in one's own memories might or might not be warranted, but it might also have consequences. ...
General Audience Summary
Not everyone always trusts their memories. You might believe you are forgetful, for example, or that you are bad at remembering people’s names. Researchers have often measured memory distrust using the Squire Subjective Memory Questionnaire (SSMQ), which asks about these types of memory failures. But people might also distrust their memories for other reasons: Perhaps, because they know they sometimes remember things incorrectly, or remember things that never happened. The SSMQ does not focus on these types of memory failures, so we developed a new self-report scale for this purpose. In two studies (combined N = 797), we showed that our 20-item Memory Distrust Scale (MDS) has the characteristics of an effective individual difference measure. For example, people who scored highly on the MDS at one time tended to also score highly at a later time, and their MDS scores were related to their scores on other measures—including the SSMQ—in sensible ways. In Study 2, we asked participants to describe eight events from their childhoods and to rate (a) how vividly they recalled each event and (b) how sure they were that each event really happened. The SSMQ and MDS were similarly good at predicting how vividly people recalled each event, but the MDS was better at predicting their belief in the events’ occurrence. This is important because we know people’s beliefs about their memories can have significant real-world consequences. For example, people who distrust their memories may be vulnerable to believing misinformation, and case studies show us that memory distrust has sometimes led innocent people to confess to crimes. We suggest that the MDS could help us to better predict which people tend to make particular kinds of errors in what they believe and remember, which might help toward identifying and mitigating the consequences of those errors.
... Related to this practice of quizzing are interleaving and spacing. They are combined here because both relate to improved memory when we give ourselves a bit of time to forget during learning (Storm, 2011). Switching between topics in a single study session is called interleaving, and leaving gaps of time between study sessions is referred to as spacing (Weinstein et al., 2018). ...
... Interleaving refers to alternating topics within a single study session, whereas spacing refers to leaving gaps of time between learning sessions. Because both approaches refer to learning being more efficient when it is spaced out, it also points to the fact that forgetting is an important stage in the process of learning (Storm, 2011). ...
https://www.nisod.org/2022/06/06/xliv_11/
... Foragers should be able to remember rewarding resources after they have been sampled and learned. However, it is neither advantageous nor often possible to remember everything indefinitely (e.g., Kraemer & Golding, 1997;Schooler & Hertwig, 2005;Storm, 2011). Models, both conceptual and mathematical, suggest that an organism's memory should reflect their natural history, their environment, and be shaped by evolution (e.g., Anderson & Schooler, 1991;Balda et al., 1996;McNamara & Houston, 1987). ...
Not all information should be learned and remembered. The value of information is tied to the reliability and certainty of that information, which itself is determined by rates of environmental change, both within and across lifetimes. Theory of adaptive forgetting and remembering posits that memory should reflect the environment, with more valuable information remembered for longer amounts of time. Theory on biological preparedness predicts that rates of reliability through evolutionary time should influence what is learned and remembered. We use these ideas to predict that differential memory use will reflect the underlying value of the information being learned. We test this by comparing the learning and memory of social information versus floral information in foraging bumble bees. Bumble bees are extremely flexible in their use of both types of information and evidence suggests that social information is "special," reflecting biological preparedness. Our experiment tests how bumble bees learn and remember social and floral information when their reliabilities, and thus value, differ. We find that bees learn both types of information at a similar speed. Bees show a decrement of memory of the trained associations in both treatments, but retain trained socially reliable information for longer, at both 4-hour and 8-hour retention intervals. Both training treatments influence whether bees match or avoid the locations of demonstrators, and this interacts with retention interval. Bees trained under reliable floral cues and unreliable social cues avoid conspecifics after 8-hr and 24-hr retention intervals. Bees thus learn about the reliability or unreliability of social cues and use this to modify their choices across time.
... The second central feature in our functional analysis of memory is that stored information is unstable across time. Whether during the storage process or retrieval process, memory is susceptible to change, reconstruction and/or reconsolidation (Koriat, Goldsmith & Pansky, 2000;Sutton, 2008Sutton, , 2010Vosgerau, 2010;Storm, 2011;Michaelian, 2012). In other words, memories on any account should be susceptible to the process of being forgotten or overwritten. ...
The hypothesis of extended cognition (HEC) claims that the cognitive processes that materially realise thinking are sometimes partially constituted by entities that are located external to an agent’s body in its local environment. We show how proponents of HEC need not claim that an agent must have a central nervous system, or physically instantiate processes organised in such a way as to play a causal role equivalent to that of the brain if that agent is to be capable of cognition. Focusing on the case of spatial memory, we make our argument by taking a close look at the striking example of Physarum Polycephalum plasmodium (i.e., slime mould) which uses self-produced non-living extracellular slime trails to navigate its environment. We will argue that the use of externalized spatial memory by basal organisms like Physarum is an example of extended cognition. Moreover, it is a possible evolutionary precursor to the use of internal spatial memory and recall in animals thus demonstrating how extended cognition may have emerged early in evolutionary history.
... According to RIF, when cued to retrieve partial content of a memory, automatic inhibitory processes will impair access to the nonretrieved content. This effect is thought to reflect a retrieval strategy (Storm, 2011) and thus could explain why the mixed group could not recover previously unrecalled details from the narratives in Session 2; these details were inhibited during Session 1. ...
Memories are not always accurately recalled, and one factor that influences memory is the goal of retrieval. Evidence suggests that retrieving a memory to fit a social goal affects the content that is recollected, yet the nature of this effect, and whether this effect remains stable over time, is not fully understood. To this end, we compared the effect of retrieving a complex event (i.e., a narrative) motivated by a social versus an accuracy goal both immediately and after a 24-hour consolidation period. Three groups of young adults encoded audio narratives and recalled these narratives immediately (Session 1) and again after a 24-hour delay (Session 2). One group recalled the narratives to meet a social goal across both sessions (social); another group recalled the narratives for an accuracy goal across both sessions (accuracy); and a final group initially recalled the narratives for a social goal (Session 1) and then for an accuracy goal (Session 2; mixed). We found no effect of group on the number of details that described the overall theme (central details); however, a social goal significantly reduced the number of specific (episodic) details and altered the order in which the details were described. When the goal of retrieval changed across session (i.e., mixed group), the reduction in specific details remained but not the effect on detail order. These results demonstrate that socially motivated memory retrieval selectively alters the specific episodic content contained in the memory, leaving intact the thematic knowledge and overall structure of the memory.
... Second, some forgetting can be useful for learning if the memory trace is strong enough to be recalled (Bjork, 2010). However, too much forgetting inhibits recall (Storm, 2011;Vlach, 2014). The memory formed through experience with a single example might not be a strong enough memory trace to survive past a 10-s retention interval. ...
A large body of research indicates that children can map words to categories and generalize the label to new instances of the category after hearing a single instance of the category labeled. Additional research demonstrates that word learning is enhanced when children are presented with multiple instances of a category through comparison or contrast. In this study, 3-year-old children participated in a novel noun generalization task in which a label was given for either (a) a single instance of a category, (b) multiple instances of a category, or (c) contrasting a category instance with non-category members. Children were asked to extend the label to a new category at test either immediately (Study 1) or after a 10-s delay (Study 2). The results indicate that when tested immediately, children who heard a single instance labeled outperformed children who were presented with multiple instances. However, when tested after a brief delay, there was no difference among the conditions.
... If this conclusion is viable, then the disruption it produces to CRAT performance in Experiments 1 and 2 cannot be attributable to disruption of the putative functions of executive processing within the CRAT (Smith et al., 2013;Storm et al., 2011;but see Marko et al., 2019) which include, for example, use of the executive function of inhibition to remediate repeated solution failures and fixation when a candidate word (typically a prepotent response) coheres with one or even two of the three cuewords (cross, rain, tie), but not all three (e.g. crosswalk, raincoat; Storm, 2011;Storm et al., 2011;Storm & Angello, 2010;Storm & Koppel, 2012). Thus, we assert that the locus of the disruption produced by task-irrelevant sound is not at a level whereby inappropriate responses require inhibition to enable generation of novel, insightful, solutions (Gilhooly et al., 2007;Schooler & Melcher, 1995), but rather due to subvocal planning required in testing potential solutions. ...
Controversy exists regarding the processes involved in creative thinking with the Remote Associates Test (RAT) and the Compound Remote Associates Test (CRAT). We report three experiments that aimed to shed light on the component processes underpinning CRAT
performance by using the mere presence of task-irrelevant sound as a key theoretical tool. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that CRAT performance was impaired relative to a quiet condition by the presence of sequences of changing letters and tones, respectively. In both experiments a non-changing sound (a repeated letter or a repeated tone) produced no disruption relative to quiet. Experiment 3 established that additional disruption was engendered by having to ignore meaningful speech as compared to meaningless speech. These experiments demonstrate that both semantic activation and subvocalisation are important determinants of successful creative thinking with CRAT problems. We suggest that semantic activation underpins solution-generation processes whereas subvocalisation underpins solution-evaluation processes.
... Compared with generated novel ideas, common ideas are fundamental and appropriate thus are less likely to be forgotten. Tt might then be possible for common ideas to suffer more interference, rather than forgetting that led to the superior memory of novel ideas, which was similar to the mechanism of retrieval failure in previous studies on memory (Storm, 2011;M. C. Anderson, 2003). ...
Prior studies have illustrated that a superior memory exists for self-access ideas compared with comprehension in close-ended problems. For example, an aha! experience followed by sudden solutions for insight problems can enhance the later long-term memory for such solutions. However, whether there is a superior memory of ideas generated in open-ended creative problems, such as the alternative uses task (AUT), is unknown. Here, we performed two studies through four experiments to investigate the superior memory in the AUT and assessed the relationship between factors related to ideas (i.e., the aha! experience, emotional feeling, subjective novelty, and source) and the recognition accuracy of ideas. By manipulating the number of generated ideas, the study examined whether the effect could be observed in the single-idea (Experiments 1 and 2) and multi-idea (Experiments 3 and 4) versions of the AUT. Study 1 showed that subjective novelty positively predicted the recognition likelihood of ideas, but the aha! experience and emotional feeling were non-significant factors (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 replicated the subjective novelty effect for recognition and found that it was not influenced by the source (old vs. new) of ideas. Study 2 showed that the subjective novelty could predict the recall likelihood (Experiment 3) and discriminative accuracy of ideas (Experiment 4). Taken together, these findings indicate that the subjective novelty of ideas during divergent thinking can benefit long-term memory formation and suggest that the process of acquiring new concepts during creative thinking may be dependent on schema consistency.
... On the other hand, working memory capacity is responsible for intentional disengagement. Due to the limited capacity of the working memory, irrelevant information is removed from active processing and the person fixates their resources on the most recent information (Storm, 2011). Therefore, both mechanisms seem to complement each other and we believe that they play a major role in the random-like series production. ...
Many psychological studies have shown that human-generated sequences deviate from the mathematical notion of randomness. Therefore, the inability to generate perfectly random data is currently considered a well-established fact. What remains an open problem is the degree to which this (in)ability varies between different people and can be affected by contextual factors. In this paper, we investigate this problem. We focus on between-subjects variability concerning the level of randomness of generated sequences under different task descriptions. In two studies, we used a modern, robust measure of randomness based on algorithmic information theory to assess human-generated series. We tested hypotheses regarding human-generated randomness visa -vis effects of context, mathematical experience, fatigue, and the tendency to engage in challenging tasks. Our results show that the activation of the ability to produce random-like series depends on the relevance of contextual cues which rather help to avoid the production of trivially non-random sequences than increase the rate of production of highly complex ones. We also show that people tend to get tired very quickly and after the first few attempts to generate highly random-like series their performance decreases significantly and they start to produce markedly more patterned sequences. Based on our results we propose a model that considers two main areas (intellectual and cognitive) of possible psychological factors explaining the variability of ability to produce random-like series.
... Although it may seem counterproductive, forgetting is a critical function of memory (Storm, 2011). Specifically, forgetting may be useful in situations where memory is outdated or no longer Fig. 5 Probability of recall as a function of cue and item importance when making importance ratings at the end of the task a and during encoding b with regression lines in Experiment 3 goal-relevant. ...
The ability to control both what we remember and what is forgotten can enhance memory. The present study used an item-method directed forgetting paradigm to investigate whether participants strategically remembered items they were responsible for remembering rather than items a hypothetical friend was responsible for remembering. Specifically, participants were presented with a 20-word list (either unrelated words or items to pack for a camping trip) with each word followed by a cue indicating whether the participant (You) or their “friend” (Friend) was responsible for remembering the word. When asked to recall all of the words, regardless of the cue, recall was sensitive to the You and Friend instructions such that participants demonstrated elevated recall for the items they were responsible for remembering, and participants also strategically organized retrieval by recalling You items before Friend items. Additionally, when asked to judge the importance of remembering each item, participants’ recall and recognition were sensitive to item importance regardless of cue. Taken together, the present experiments revealed that the strategic encoding of important information and the forgetting of less important, goal-irrelevant information can maximize memory utility and minimize negative consequences for forgetting. Thus, we provide evidence for a metacognitive process we are calling responsible forgetting , where people attempt to forget less consequential information and focus on remembering what is most important.
... Yet, an approach based on the simultaneous assessment of different inhibitory measures, also including interference control tasks, may represent a more fine-grained strategy to detect endophenotypic indicators of various psychopathologies (Gottesman & Gould, 2003). More specifically, the ability to inhibit competing or unwanted memories is relevant to achieve crucial adaptive functions, such as emotion regulation, and therefore is closely tied to both cognitive efficiency and psychological health (e.g., Nørby, 2015;Storm, 2011). The relatively few studies specifically addressing memory inhibition reported deficits in various phenotypically different disorders, which share a characterization in terms of scarce inhibitory control over different kinds of representations (e.g., ADHD, Storm & White, 2010;schizophrenia, Soriano, Jim enez, Rom an, & Bajo, 2009;obsessive-compulsive disorder, Demeter, Keresztes, Hars anyi, Csig o, & Racsm any, 2014; clinical depression, Groome & Sterkaj, 2010;anorexia nervosa, Stramaccia, Penolazzi, Libardi, et al., 2018). ...
Background and aims:
Many psychopathologies, including addictions, are characterized by inhibitory control deficits. In this regard, recent studies on substance-related disorders (SRD) have shown an impairment in the ability to inhibit potentially interfering memories, despite preserved motor inhibition. To investigate whether the same dissociation could also characterize gambling disorder (GD) in a transdiagnostic perspective, we tested both cognitive and motor inhibitory processes through dedicated tasks, for the first time in this behavioral addiction.
Methods:
30 outpatients with GD and 30 healthy controls performed a go/no-go task addressing the integrity of motor inhibition, and the Retrieval Practice Paradigm, a task addressing the integrity of memory inhibition as indexed by the Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF) effect. Self-report questionnaires assessing impulsivity were also administered.
Results:
Whereas RIF was similar across the two groups, patients showed more commission errors in the go/no-go task, and higher self-rated scores of impulsivity than controls.
Discussion:
The present findings suggest preserved memory inhibition and impaired motor response inhibition in GD, a pattern of inhibitory deficits opposite to that previously reported for SRD. Therefore, although both GD and SRD are characterized by altered inhibitory processing, a more fine-grained analysis revealed a specific inhibitory profile indicating vulnerability in different inhibitory components.
Conclusion:
The present study highlights the need to investigate the multifaceted construct of inhibition more thoroughly, using performance measures able to assess its various components. This approach would enable to both better characterize different psychopathologies and orient their treatment.
... It is a process of adaptation (Nairne and Pandeirada, 2008) and is therefore viewed by psychological science as a precondition for successful learning and recall (MacLeod, 1998). Although human memory is characterized by unlimited storage capacity of memory items stored in long-term memory (Bjork and Bjork, 1992;Kirschner, 2002;Storm, 2011), adaptability is necessary, as the past never repeats itself, at least not in exactly the same way. Therefore, it would not be of great value to humans to store exact copies of earlier experiences. ...
To cope with the already large, and ever increasing, amount of information stored in organizational memory, "forgetting," as an important human memory process, might be transferred to the organizational context. Especially in intentionally planned change processes (e.g., change management), forgetting is an important precondition to impede the recall of obsolete routines and adapt to new strategic objectives accompanied by new organizational routines. We first comprehensively review the literature on the need for organizational forgetting and particularly on accidental vs. intentional forgetting. We discuss the current state of the art of theory and empirical evidence on forgetting from cognitive psychology in order to infer mechanisms applicable to the organizational context. In this respect, we emphasize retrieval theories and the relevance of retrieval cues important for forgetting. Subsequently, we transfer the empirical evidence that the elimination of retrieval cues leads to faster forgetting to the forgetting of organizational routines, as routines are part of organizational memory. We then propose a classification of cues (context, sensory, business process-related cues) that are relevant in the forgetting of routines, and discuss a meta-cue called the "situational strength" cue, which is relevant if cues of an old and a new routine are present simultaneously. Based on the classification as business process-related cues (information, team, task, object cues), we propose mechanisms to accelerate forgetting by eliminating specific cues based on the empirical and theoretical state of the art. We conclude that in intentional organizational change processes, the elimination of cues to accelerate forgetting should be used in change management practices.
... Critically, it has been argued that ignoring or not being able to retrieve irrelevant or outdated information has an important adaptive value [1]. This is because forgetting avoids loading our memory storage with unnecessary information-which allows other memories to eventually be recorded and selected [1][2][3]. Forgetting-defined as "the inability to recall something now that could be recalled on an earlier occasion" [4, p.74]-is a common phenomenon in both short-term and long-term memory [5][6][7]. Thus, understanding what causes forgetting is critical if we are to understand how memory works [1]. ...
Humans are constantly acquiring new information and skills. However, forgetting is also a common phenomenon in our lives. Understanding the lability of memories is critical to appreciate how they are formed as well as forgotten. Here we investigate the lability of chimpanzees’ short-term memories and assess what factors cause forgetting in our closest relatives. In two experiments, chimpanzees were presented with a target task, which involved remembering a reward location, followed by the presentation of an interference task—requiring the recollection of a different reward location. The interference task could take place soon after the presentation of the target task or soon before the retrieval of the food locations. The results show that chimpanzees’ memories for the location of a reward in a target task were compromised by the presentation of a different food location in an interference task. Critically, the temporal location of the interference task did not significantly affect chimpanzees’ performance. These pattern of results were found for both Experiment 1—when the retention interval between the encoding and retrieval of the target task was 60 seconds- and Experiment 2—when the retention interval between the encoding and retrieval of the target task was 30 seconds. We argue that the temporal proximity of the to-be-remembered information and the interference item during encoding is the factor driving chimpanzees’ performance in the present studies.
... Sometimes it is necessary to leave behind what one already has to discover something new. This often requires thinking outside the box of warehoused memories at one's disposal (e.g., Storm, 2011;Storm & Angello, 2010; for additional perspective, see Ditta & Storm, 2018). Forgetting fosters innovation by allowing the mind's eye to more freely examine problems (and potential solutions) with new perspective. ...
General Audience Summary
Our inability to remember the name of an acquaintance or an important date is both embarrassing and frustrating. For that reason, forgetting is often viewed as a sign of impending cognitive decline or even as a character flaw. These fears have even driven some toward the promise of memory-enhancing pharmaceuticals and digital technologies designed to preserve memories indefinitely. Long the stuff of science fiction, these promises are closer than ever to realization. In this article we instead argue that a life without forgetting risks sacrificing some of our most adaptive and virtuous qualities. We offer a fresh reminder of these virtues, drawing from recent cognitive, neuroscientific, and applied findings. In so doing, we identify three important (if not entirely independent) roles supported by forgetting, namely maintenance of a positive and coherent self-image (“Guardian”), facilitation of efficient cognitive function (“Librarian”), and development of a creative and flexible worldview (“Inventor”). Together, these roles depict an expanded understanding of how forgetting provides memory with many of its cardinal virtues.
... According to the present motivational perspective, the RIF effect is a fundamentally adaptive mechanism: it protects the recall of desired and/or useful memories from the interference of undesired and/or useless ones (Storm, 2011). More specifically, the intrusion of interfering items during recall may undermine selective-retrieval, fostering epistemic uncertainty and confusion. ...
Recalling information from a particular category can reduce one’s memory capability for related, non-retrieved information. This is known as the retrieval-induced forgetting effect (RIF; Anderson et al., 1994). The present paper reviews studies that show that the RIF effect is motivated. More specifically, we describe research showing that the need for closure (NFC; the motivation to attain epistemic certainty; Kruglanski and Webster, 1996) generally enhances the RIF, because this prevents uncertainty and confusion from the intrusion of unwanted memories during selective-retrieval. However, when the content of the to-be-forgotten information serves the retriever’s goals, NFC reduces RIF. Overall, the present findings are consistent with the view that motivation can affect the magnitude of RIF effects which, in turn, can serve as a mechanism for reaching preferred conclusions.
... It is a process of adaptation (Nairne and Pandeirada, 2008) and is therefore viewed by psychological science as a precondition for successful learning and recall (MacLeod, 1998). Although human memory is characterized by unlimited storage capacity of memory items stored in long-term memory (Bjork and Bjork, 1992;Kirschner, 2002;Storm, 2011), adaptability is necessary, as the past never repeats itself, at least not in exactly the same way. Therefore, it would not be of great value to humans to store exact copies of earlier experiences. ...
To cope with the already large, and ever increasing, amount of information stored in organizational memory, “forgetting,” as an important human memory process, might be transferred to the organizational context. Especially in intentionally planned change processes (e.g., change management), forgetting is an important precondition to impede the recall of obsolete routines and adapt to new strategic objectives accompanied by new organizational routines. We first comprehensively review the literature on the need for organizational forgetting and particularly on accidental vs. intentional forgetting. We discuss the current state of the art of theory and empirical evidence on forgetting from cognitive psychology in order to infer mechanisms applicable to the organizational context. In this respect, we emphasize retrieval theories and the relevance of retrieval cues important for forgetting. Subsequently, we transfer the empirical evidence that the elimination of retrieval cues leads to faster forgetting to the forgetting of organizational routines, as routines are part of organizational memory. We then propose a classification of cues (context, sensory, business process-related cues) that are relevant in the forgetting of routines, and discuss a meta-cue called the “situational strength” cue, which is relevant if cues of an old and a new routine are present simultaneously. Based on the classification as business process-related cues (information, team, task, object cues), we propose mechanisms to accelerate forgetting by eliminating specific cues based on the empirical and theoretical state of the art. We conclude that in intentional organizational change processes, the elimination of cues to accelerate forgetting should be used in change management practices.
... Advocates of the suppression mechanism (M. C. Anderson & Spellman, 1995;Bjork, 1989;Hasher, Lustig, & Zacks, 2007;Hasher et al., 1999;Zanto & Gazzaley, 2009) have posited that actively rejecting and subsequently inhibiting a competitor reduces its subsequent accessibility (Anderson & Spellman, 1995;Aslan & Bäuml, 2011;Healey et al., 2010;Norman, Newman, & Detre, 2007;Storm, 2011), thereby facilitating target retrieval. This account is consistent with a wealth of research implicating age-related impairments in inhibitory ability and its negative effects on resolving interference (e.g., Campbell, Hasher, & Thomas, 2010;Hulicka, 1967;Ikier & Hasher, 2006;Kane & Engle, 2002;Logan & Balota, 2003;Radvansky, Zacks, & Hasher, 2005;Winocur & Moscovitch, 1983). ...
The presence of noise and interfering information can pose major difficulties during speech perception, particularly for older adults. Analogously, interference from similar representations during retrieval is a major cause of age-related memory failures. To demonstrate a suppression mechanism that underlies such speech and memory difficulties, we tested the hypothesis that interference between targets and competitors is resolved by suppressing competitors, thereby rendering them less intelligible in noise. In a series of experiments using a paradigm adapted from Healey, Hasher, and Campbell (2013), we presented a list of words that included target/competitor pairs of orthographically similar words (e.g., ALLERGY and ANALOGY). After a delay, participants solved fragments (e.g., A_L__GY), some of which resembled both members of the target/competitor pair, but could only be completed by the target. We then assessed the consequence of having successfully resolved this interference by asking participants to identify words in noise, some of which included the rejected competitor words from the previous phase. Consistent with a suppression account of interference resolution, younger adults reliably demonstrated reduced identification accuracy for competitors, indicating that they had effectively rejected, and therefore suppressed, competitors. In contrast, older adults showed a relative increase in accuracy for competitors relative to young adults. Such results suggest that older adults' reduced ability to suppress these representations resulted in sustained access to lexical traces, subsequently increasing perceptual identification of such items. We discuss these findings within the framework of inhibitory control theory in cognitive aging and its implications for age-related changes in speech perception.
... The clearance of irrelevant memories would open new storage space and facilitate retrieval, making the brain more efficient for error-free retrieval (Rosenzweig et al., 2002). Moreover, it seems intuitive that some level of active forgetting would offer increased fitness by reducing recurring and unwanted situations or unrewarded perseveration (Kraemer and Golding, 1997;Storm, 2011;Brea et al., 2014). One strain of Drosophila named rovers explore their environment actively, whereas an allelic variant, named sitters, are much more stationary. ...
Pioneering research studies, beginning with those using Drosophila, have identified several molecular and cellular mechanisms for active forgetting. The currently known mechanisms for active forgetting include neurogenesis-based forgetting, interference-based forgetting, and intrinsic forgetting, the latter term describing the brain's chronic signaling systems that function to slowly degrade molecular and cellular memory traces. The best-characterized pathway for intrinsic forgetting includes "forgetting cells" that release dopamine onto engram cells, mobilizing a signaling pathway that terminates in the activation of Rac1/Cofilin to effect changes in the actin cytoskeleton and neuron/synapse structure. Intrinsic forgetting may be the default state of the brain, constantly promoting memory erasure and competing with processes that promote memory stability like consolidation. A better understanding of active forgetting will provide insights into the brain's memory management system and human brain disorders that alter active forgetting mechanisms.
... Exercising inhibitory control can be a lifesaver both literally and figuratively (for more on the adaptive benefits of forgetting, see Bjork, 1989;Bjork, Bjork, & MacLeod, 2006;Schooler & Hertwig, 2005;Storm, 2011), but the benefits must be qualified. For instance, tasks that depend on attending to previously irrelevant information may benefit from periods when inhibitory control is lacking (Amer, Campbell, & Hasher, 2016). ...
ABSTRACTForgetting can be either a source of great frustration or one of great relief, depending on whether the memories in question are relevant to one?s immediate goals. Adopting an appropriate strategy or memory mode can help achieve these goals. But do efforts to control memory engender unintended side effects? Presently, we expand on a theoretical perspective of memory control, wherein efforts to suppress episodic encoding or retrieval result in the systemic downregulation of the hippocampal memory system. We review evidence from multiple methodologies, highlighting a non-invasive means of inducing amnesia that casts a shadow over memory for unrelated events. By establishing the causes and consequences of the amnesic side effects associated with memory control, we argue it may be possible to harness hippocampal dynamics to promote more adaptive memory performance in the lab, clinic, and broader context of daily life.
... The abilities to suppress competing or unwanted memories are thought to be specific subprocesses of a broader inhibitory control mechanism (e.g., Storm & Levy, 2012) and to be mediated by lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity, as shown by both neuroimaging (e.g., Wimber et al., 2008) and noninvasive brain stimulation (Penolazzi, Stramaccia, Braga, Mondini, & Galfano, 2014) studies. These forgetting abilities have been associated with beneficial outcomes and may be important to achieve adaptive functions such as memory updating, overcoming of interference, creative problem solving, and emotion regulation (e.g., Storm, 2011). Suppression of competing or unwanted memories has been mainly investigated with the retrieval-practice paradigm (RPP; Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994), which probes incidental memory suppression, and the think/no-think paradigm (e.g., Anderson & Hanslmayr, 2014), which requires a voluntary memory suppression effort. ...
Substance-related and addictive disorders have been strongly linked to inhibitory control impairment. However, inhibitory deficits in this class of psychiatric disorders have been tested almost exclusively with measures of inhibition of motor, overt behavior. Here, instead, we investigated inhibitory deficits in these disorders by assessing the integrity of inhibitory control over internal, covert responses. Two groups of patients with alcohol and drug addiction and a control group of healthy individuals were administered a retrieval-practice paradigm assessing inhibition of competing memories. All groups showed comparable beneficial effects of retrieval practice. In contrast, successful suppression of competing memories was achieved by the control group only. This indicates that the deficit in clinical groups can be ascribed to an impairment in inhibitory control over memory retrieval rather than to a general memory impairment. In conclusion, inhibitory deficits in addiction are more widespread than previously shown, as they encompass memory control mechanisms.
... Active forgetting, a process necessary for optimal cognitive fitness provides balance to the brain's efforts to encode and consolidate new and important information by removing unused or unwanted memories or by suppressing their expression (Anderson, 2003;Storm, 2011;Wixted, 2004). In contrast to the extensive efforts made to understand how memories are acquired and consolidated, few neuroscience studies have probed the equally important process of forgetting. ...
Forgetting, one part of the brain’s memory management system, provides balance to the encoding and consolidation of new information by removing unused or unwanted memories or by suppressing their expression. Recent studies identified the small G protein, Rac1, as a key player in the Drosophila mushroom bodies neurons (MBn) for active forgetting. We subsequently discovered that a few dopaminergic neurons (DAn) that innervate the MBn mediate forgetting. Here we show that Scribble, a scaffolding protein known primarily for its role as a cell polarity determinant, orchestrates the intracellular signaling for normal forgetting. Knocking down scribble expression in either MBn or DAn impairs normal memory loss. Scribble interacts physically and genetically with Rac1, Pak3, and Cofilin within MBn, nucleating a forgetting signalosome that is downstream of dopaminergic inputs that regulate forgetting. These results bind disparate molecular players in active forgetting into a single signaling pathway: Dopamine→ Dopamine Receptor→ Scribble→ Rac→ Cofilin.
本研究从记忆与遗忘的辩证关系出发，聚焦中国社交平台上的“数字死亡”，即个体用户的平台账号被关闭的现象。本文的经验材料包含131份网上发布的数字生命叙事和39份深度访谈，这些遭遇强制性删除后的个人书写和言说不仅将数字时代的记忆政治公之于众，也将其公共化。研究发现，封号作为事件侵入了个体的日常生活，带来了死亡般的沉痛和创伤，个体数字记忆被全面删除，（一部分）自我也被湮灭和剥离。诉诸书写是抵抗遗忘的方式，抗议平台加诸的越轨标签，被封号者的身份和主体性也在书写中得以重构和确认。从结果上看，通过删除制造遗忘的平台治理反而在社会实践中激发了积极的记忆铭刻，而删除给技术化的记忆结构所带来的长远影响则值得深思。
The study of the relationships between divergent thinking and the core executive functions is long standing. However, the literature on this topic is not conclusive. The present review was aimed to clarify the extent to which divergent thinking is related to the core executive functions, namely inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility. The main findings showed that divergent thinking is supported by inhibition in terms of flexible attention changes. Working memory appears to play a key role in enabling semantic associations when the focus of attention is narrowed. Then, although cognitive flexibility is a key element of divergent thinking, only a few studies independently investigated its contribution. Taken together, the results suggest that divergent thinking relies on the ability to switch between different mechanisms according to the individual's ability and task demands. Future research directions are also discussed.
Although older adults are often concerned about instances of forgetting, forgetting can be a useful feature of our memory system. Specifically, strategically forgetting less important information can benefit memory for goal-relevant information (i.e., responsible remembering and responsible forgetting). In two experiments, we presented younger and older adults with a list of words (either unrelated words or items to bring on a camping trip) with a cue indicating whether participants ("You") or their "Friend" was responsible for remembering each item. Results revealed that both younger and older adults engaged in responsible remembering and forgetting by better remembering items they were responsible for remembering, indicating a strategic utilization of their limited memory capacity. Additionally, regardless of age and the cue indicating who was responsible for remembering each item, participants used importance to guide the encoding and retrieval of information. Thus, people may be able to engage strategic cognitive mechanisms to maximize memory utility for important, goal-relevant information, and responsible forgetting can enhance memory utility in both younger and older adults by using importance to drive memory and reduce consequences for forgetting.
It is still debated whether suppressing the retrieval of unwanted memories causes forgetting and whether this constitutes a beneficial mechanism. To shed light on these two questions, we scrutinize the evidence for such suppression-induced forgetting (SIF) and examine whether it is deficient in psychological disorders characterized by intrusive thoughts. Specifically, we performed a focused meta-analysis of studies that have used the Think/No-Think procedure to test SIF in individuals either affected by psychological disorders or exhibiting high scores on related traits. Overall, across 96 effects from 25 studies, we found that avoiding retrieval leads to significant forgetting in healthy individuals, with a small to moderate effect size (0.28, 95% CI [0.14, 0.43]). Importantly, this effect was indeed larger than for more anxious (-0.21, 95% CI [-0.41, -0.02]) or depressed individuals (0.05, 95% CI [-0.19, 0.29]) - though estimates for the healthy may be inflated by publication bias. In contrast, individuals with a stronger repressive coping style showed greater SIF (0.42, 95% CI [0.32, 0.52]). Furthermore, moderator analyses revealed that SIF varied with the exact suppression mechanism that participants were instructed to engage. For healthy individuals, the effect sizes were considerably larger when instructions induced specific mechanisms of direct retrieval suppression or thought substitution than when they were unspecific. These results suggest that intact suppression-induced forgetting is a hallmark of psychological well-being, and that inducing more specific suppression mechanisms fosters voluntary forgetting.
The intention to forget reduces the accessibility of information in memory, which is commonly explained with temporary retrieval difficulties. Long-term effects have rarely been studied, and results are inconsistent. The present study re-assessed the long-term effects of directed forgetting (DF). Participants encoded a first list of items (L1), and were then instructed to forget or to remember this list. Immediately afterwards, all participants were presented with a second list to remember. In Experiment 1, memory for L1 and L2 was assessed after a 24-h delay. The forget cue reduced the number of items that were recalled from L1. Experiment 2 implemented a 12-h delay between encoding and test that was either filled with day-time wakefulness or night-time sleep. Replicating the findings of Exp. 1, recall of L1 was reduced in the forget in comparison to the remember condition. Sleep in comparison to wakefulness significantly strengthened L1 memory in the remember group only. Taken together, the present study shows that the intention to forget can have long-lasting consequences. This suggests that different mechanisms underlie the short- and long-term effects of DF, with long-term effects potentially reflecting the preferential consolidation of information that has been identified as important during encoding.
Does normal forgetting facilitate mental health and is forgetting impaired in affective disorders? This double-sided question may seem counterintuitive given the fact that forgetting is often associated with troubles in everyday life. However, forgetting does not only have destructive consequences, but also fulfils important functions. I consider the possibility that forgetting may function as a beneficial sorting mechanism which helps healthy people discard information that is undesirable and unpleasant. Thus, selective forgetting of negative memories may be part of emotion regulation, that is, people’s attempts to control when and how they experience and express emotions. Such forgetting may allow for a focus on positive memories and thereby help form a mnemonic basis for optimism as well as active and explorative approach behaviour. Also, I consider the possibility that anxiety and depression may in part result from and be maintained by a diminished capacity to forget. A reduced ability to selectively forget negative memories may be one reason that such disorders are characterised by painful emotions such as fear and sadness as well as defensive and withdrawn behaviour. Overall, I review and reflect on evidence for and against functional forgetting in mental health and dysfunctional forgetting in affective disorders.
Introduction:
Recent studies have suggested that patients suffering from either anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN) exhibit abnormal performance in the ability to control cognitive interference in response selection.
Method:
We assessed the status of cognitive control in episodic memory by addressing the ability to inhibit interfering memories. To this end, we used the retrieval-practice paradigm, which allows for measuring both the beneficial and the detrimental effects of memory practice. The latter phenomenon, known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), is thought to reflect an adaptive inhibitory mechanism aimed at reducing competition in memory retrieval. Twenty-seven healthy controls and 27 patients suffering from eating disorders (either AN or BN) performed a retrieval-practice paradigm and a control task addressing general reactivity and filled a self-report questionnaire on impulsivity.
Results:
No differences between patients and healthy controls were observed for the beneficial effects of practice. The same pattern also emerged for RIF. However, when patients with AN and BN were analyzed separately, a clear dissociation emerged: patients with AN displayed no hint of RIF, whereas patients with BN showed an intact memory suppression performance. No group differences emerged in the control task.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest a specific impairment in the ability to suppress interfering memories in patients with AN, thus extending current evidence of cognitive control deficits in AN to episodic memory.
Evidence is reviewed indicating that output interference—the deleterious effects of recall of some information on information recalled later—occurs both in primary and secondary memory. It appears that output interference provides at least a partial account for the disparity between information available in memory and its accessibility at recall. It is argued that consideration of output interference may provide a helpful perspective in resolving problems in the study of episodic and semantic memory, including the negative effects of part-list cueing and the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.
Abstract ,The first ideas to be considered during creative idea generation can have profoundly constraining effects on the scope of the ideas that are subsequently generated. Even if initial ideasare intended to serve as helpful examples, or they are given simply to get the creative process going, the constraints of initial ideas may,be inescapable. Such constraints can impede,successful problem,solving and inhibit creative invention. Overcoming these constraints can be enhanced by reconsidering initially failed problems in new contexts. Empirical research examining,cognitive mechanisms,for these constraints is discussed. ,3 The Constraining Effects of Initial Ideas ,What is the best source of creative ideas? The wisdom of proverbs advises us that if we are to see farther than others, wemust "stand on the shoulders of giants." This means,thatwe,should use the prior knowledge,that has been provided by our predecessors, because in solving problems there is no need to "re-invent the wheel." On the other hand, a different proverb advises us not to get "stuck in a rut," meaning that using prior knowledge to solve problems can lead us to the same,old tired ideas and blocked thinking that stymied progress on those problems,in the past. How are we to choose,between,these apparently contradictory sources of wisdom? One way to address this question is through empirical studies of creative thinking and problem solving, a method
Interference provides an account of one of the most basic problems in the science of memory: forgetting. Historically, theories of this process were shaped by models of associative learning prevalent when interference research began. In this article, I argue that we should reconsider the long-standing conceptualization of interference as a learning phenomenon and reframe interference as arising from systems that achieve mental and behavioral control. Specifically, it is argued that forgetting is not a passive side effect of storing new memories, but results from inhibitory control mechanisms recruited to override prepotent responses. In support of this idea, I discuss two control situations in which response override is necessary—selection and stopping—and show how these situations have direct parallels in retrieval. I then review evidence that in both of these situations, the need to override prepotent, distracting memories is supported by inhibitory mechanisms that ultimately cause forgetting. The theoretical properties of these inhibitory effects are outlined, along with critical factors known to modulate or mask inhibition. The relation between this executive control theory of forgetting and classical accounts of interference is discussed.
Research on retrieval-induced forgetting has shown that retrieval can cause the forgetting of related or competing items in memory (Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994). In the present research, we examined whether an analogous phenomenon occurs in the context of creative problem solving. Using the Remote Associates Test (RAT; Mednick, 1962), we found that attempting to generate a novel common associate to 3 cue words caused the forgetting of other strong associates related to those cue words. This problem-solving-induced forgetting effect occurred even when participants failed to generate a viable solution, increased in magnitude when participants spent additional time problem solving, and was positively correlated with problem-solving success on a separate set of RAT problems. These results implicate a role for forgetting in overcoming fixation in creative problem solving.
Selectively retrieving a subset of previously studied information enhances memory for the retrieved information but causes forgetting of related, nonretrieved information. Such retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) has often been attributed to inhibitory executive-control processes that supposedly suppress the nonretrieved items' memory representation. Here, we examined the role of working memory capacity (WMC) in young adults' RIF. WMC was assessed by means of the operation span task. Results revealed a positive relationship between WMC and RIF, with high-WMC individuals showing more RIF than low-WMC individuals. In contrast, individuals showed enhanced memory for retrieved information regardless of WMC. The results are consistent with previous individual-differences work that suggests a close link between WMC and inhibitory efficiency. In particular, the finding supports the inhibitory executive-control account of RIF.
Research on retrieval-induced forgetting has shown that the selective retrieval of some information can cause the forgetting of other information. Such forgetting is believed to result from inhibitory processes that function to resolve interference during retrieval. The current study examined whether individuals with ADHD demonstrate normal levels of retrieval-induced forgetting. A total of 40 adults with ADHD and 40 adults without ADHD participated in a standard retrieval-induced forgetting experiment. Critically, half of the items were tested using category cues and the other half of the items were tested using category-plus-one-letter-stem cues. Whereas both ADHD and non-ADHD participants demonstrated retrieval-induced forgetting on the final category-cued recall test, only non-ADHD participants demonstrated retrieval-induced forgetting on the final category-plus-stem-cued recall test. These results suggest that individuals with ADHD do have a deficit in the inhibitory control of memory, but that this deficit may only be apparent when output interference is adequately controlled on the final test.
Extra work on unsolved problems may lead to more improvement if the new work is delayed rather than undertaken immediately after initial solution attempts. Such a result constitutes incubation in problem solving. "Unconscious work" on a problem, commonly assumed to be responsible for incubation effects, may not be necessary to observe the phenomenon. We hypothesize that fixation, a block to successful problem solving, may develop during initial solution attempts and persist, interfering with immediate extra work more than with delayed extra work. Five experiments are reported in which fixation was induced to prevent optimal performance on the initial test of Remote Associates Test (RAT) problems (e.g., Mednick, 1962). After the fixation manipulation in three of the experiments, the effects of incubation intervals were examined by retesting the fixated problems. Both fixation (poorer initial problem-solving performance) and incubation (more improvement after a delayed retest than an immediate retest) were found in all the experiments which tested for the effects. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3, misleading distractors were presented alongside the RAT problems during the initial test of the problems to cause fixation. In Experiment 4, a block of paired associates--pairing the RAT words with the misleading distractors prior to problem solving--successfully induced fixation, indicating that the distractors affected memory retrieval. In Experiment 5, a trial-by-trial technique allowed fixation and incubation to be induced and tested separately for each item. All of our findings of incubation effects appear to have depended upon the initial induction of fixation. Although the experiments may not be representative of all naturally occurring cases of incubation, they provide a methodology for the study of fixation and incubation effects in problem solving in the laboratory.
Three studies show that the retrieval process itself causes long-lasting forgetting. Ss studied 8 categories (e.g., Fruit). Half the members of half the categories were then repeatedly practiced through retrieval tests (e.g., Fruit Or_____). Category-cued recall of unpracticed members of practiced categories was impaired on a delayed test. Experiments 2 and 3 identified 2 significant features of this retrieval-induced forgetting: The impairment remains when output interference is controlled, suggesting a retrieval-based suppression that endures for 20 min or more, and the impairment appears restricted to high-frequency members. Low-frequency members show little impairment, even in the presence of strong, practiced competitors that might be expected to block access to those items. These findings suggest a critical role for suppression in models of retrieval inhibition and implicate the retrieval process itself in everyday forgetting.
The intent of this paper is the presentation of an associative interpretation of the process of creative thinking. The explanation is not directed to any specific field of application such as art or science but attempts to delineate processes that underlie all creative thought. The discussion will take the following form, (a) First, we will define creative thinking in associative terms and indicate three ways in which creative solutions may be achieved—serendipity, similarity, and mediation, (b) This definition will allow us to deduce those individual difference variables which will facilitate creative performance, (c) Consideration of the definition of the creative process has suggested an operational statement of the definition in the form of a test. The test will be briefly described along with some preliminary research results. (d) The paper will conclude with a discussion of predictions regarding the influence of certain experimentally manipulable variables upon the creative process. Creative individuals and the processes by which they manifest their creativity have excited a good deal of
When information is retrieved from memory, it becomes more recallable than it would have been otherwise. Other information associated with the same cue or configuration of cues, however, becomes less recallable. Such retrieval-induced forgetting (Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994) appears to reflect the suppression of competing nontarget information, with this suppression facilitating the selection of target information. But is success at such selection a necessary condition for retrieval-induced forgetting? Using a procedure in which some cues posed an impossible retrieval task for participants, we report evidence that the attempt to retrieve, even if unsuccessful, can produce retrieval-induced forgetting. This finding, we believe, supports and refines a suppression/inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting.
As a means of clarifying the memory dynamics that underlie retrieval-induced forgetting, we explored how instructing participants either to remember or to forget a previously presented list of items influences the susceptibility of those items to inhibition. According to the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting, it is the items that interfere most with retrieval practice that should be the most susceptible to the effects of inhibition. Consistent with this prediction, items from lists that participants were told to remember suffered from significantly more retrieval-induced forgetting than did items from lists that participants were told to forget.
The repeated retrieval of a subset of previously learned items can cause forgetting of the nonretrieved items. The study reported here investigated whether retrieval-induced forgetting generalizes to a situation in which the retrieved and nonretrieved items are not part of the same experiential episode and task. Subjects learned an item list that they had to recall later in the experiment. In a separate intermediate phase, they repeatedly generated related items from semantic memory, or were presented the same items intact for study. Only, the semantic generation of items, and not their presentation for study, induced forgetting of the initially learned items. This result indicates that, first, semantic generation can cause recall-specific episodic forgetting and, second, retrieval-induced forgetting can occur even if the retrieved and nonretrieved items belong to different experiential episodes and tasks. Connections of the present results to other memory phenomena, such as part-set citing and the generation exact, social cognition, and eyewitness memory, are discussed.
Performance on measures of working memory (WM) capacity predicts performance on a wide range of real-world cognitive tasks. I review the idea that WM capacity (a) is separable from short-term memory, (b) is an important component of general fluid intelligence, and (c) represents a domain-free limitation in ability to control attention. Studies show that individual differences in WM capacity are reflected in performance on antisaccade, Stroop, and dichotic-listening tasks. WM capacity, or executive attention, is most important under conditions in which interference leads to retrieval of response tendencies that conflict with the current task.
In 2 experiments with a total of 72 undergraduates, buildup of proactive inhibition (PI) in the J. Brown (1958) and L. and M. Peterson (1959) paradigm (see PA, Vol 33:5553 and 34:5499) is interpreted in terms of the cue-overload principle: The probability of recalling an item declines with the number of items subsumed by its functional retrieval cue. In contrast to a registration interpretation, the cue-overload view predicts that if the effects of initial recall and of differential recency are controlled, performance in a delayed test of all items from successive lists will be independent of their presentation order. This prediction is supported in Exp I. A long series of Brown-Peterson trials was presented, with the items in each block of 3 trials belonging to the same conceptual category and with initial recall tested only occasionally. The final recall of items from initially untested categories was independent of within-category list position. The cue-overload principle gained further support from Exp II which, with a procedure similar to that used in Exp I, showed that level of final recall varied inversely with the number of lists in the category. The relation of the buildup of PI effect to other memory phenomena is discussed. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The repeated retrieval of a subset of previously learned items can cause forgetting of the nonretrieved items. The study reported here investigated whether retrieval-induced forgetting generalizes to a situation in which the retrieved and nonretrieved items are not part of the same experiential episode and task. Subjects learned an item list that they had to recall later in the experiment. In a separate intermediate phase, they repeatedly generated related items from semantic memory, or were presented the same items intact for study. Only the semantic generation of items, and not their presentation for study, induced forgetting of the initially learned items. This result indicates that, first, semantic generation can cause recall-specific episodic forgetting and, second, retrieval-induced forgetting can occur even if the retrieved and nonretrieved items belong to different experiential episodes and tasks. Connections of the present results to other memory phenomena, such as part-set cuing and the generation effect, social cognition, and eyewitness memory, are discussed.