Lecture 3 Chapter 2: Retrieval-induced forgetting

How do we know we have forgotten

Not being able to complete a goal, Seen as a hinderance for work, changes reality/environment

Remembering

Storage: The ability Capacity: How much Retention: How long Underlying mechanism and properties: cognitive functioning

Positive Aspects of Forgetting

We need to forget to remember. It is healthy to forget.

Adpative Mechanism of Forgetting

Better to remember current instead of out of date info.

Retrieval Inhibition

The active suppression of information interfering with recall

Flexible memory updating

Memory operates within an adaptive social context that guesses what info to hold on to and therefore memory is not replacing it’s educated updating.

Destructive updating

update memory by overwriting older (out of date) info with new info without a system.

Retrieval Induced Forgetting

Pattern of forgetting happens because of conflicting memories are interfering with material so therefore assumed unuseful info is forgotten

Anderson Et AL (1994)

phase one: Does pair association Phase 2: Cued recall with only some of the pairs in one category and none in the other Phase 3: Distractor task phase 4: recall all

Results Anderson Et al (1994)

Retrieval Practice (Rp+): Were remember best. No retrieval practice (Nrp): Did worse. Retrieval practice not completed for certain items in same category (Rp-): Did worse than nrp as seen as unimportant.

Inhibitory process definition (RIF): Anderson & Spellman (1995)

Rp- happens because of the inhibition process: Items remain unavailable to consciousness

Exam Performance and Retrieval Inhibiton

Rp+ Will be okay Rp- will be worse than if you didn’t study (Nrp)

Macrae & Macleod (1999, Study 2) Did the same thing as Roediger and Wheeler but on a island they boogie Phase 4: Testing on island

Task: Participants tested on fictious island Phase one: cued recall about half of the info Phase 3: Non-relevant retrieval

Macrae & Macleod (1999, Study 2) Results

Rp- items were recalled more poorly than Nrp

Integration Effect & inevitability of RIF

Increasing richness and connectivity will reduce RIF

Caroll et al (2007) Task+Results

Task: 4th year vs 1st year in making a diagnosis. Results: 4th years have more practice integrating materials and did better

Dunn and Spellman (2003)

Task: try to out-bigot bigot Results: could not do it. Believed too much. Could not RIF and less susceptible to retrieval inhibition.