Module 26: Forgetting, Memory Construction, and Improving Memory

Anterograde Amnesia

An inability to form new memories

Retrograde Amnesia

An inability to remember information from the past

Proactive Interference

The forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information

Retroactive Interference

The backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information

Repression (Motivated Forgetting)

Proposed by Sigmund Freud in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Reconsolidation

A process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

Misinformation Effect

Occurs when a memory has been corrupted by a suggestion after the event

Source Amnesia

By Piaget, faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined (AKA source misattribution)

Misinformation Effect and Source Amnesia

Reason for many false memories

Déjà Vu

The eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”, cues from current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

Decay

Weakening of memory