Forgetting, Memory Construction, and Improving Memory

Forgetting

Inability to retrieve previously encoded memories.

Encoding failure

Inability to store information due to lack of attention.

Storage decay

Rapid initial forgetting that levels off over time.

Interference

Disruption of memory retrieval by other information.

Proactive interference

Old memories hinder new information recall.

Retroactive interference

New information disrupts recall of old memories.

Motivated forgetting

Repression of memories to protect self-concept.

Misinformation effect

Memory distortion due to misleading information.

Imagination effect

Creating false memories through repeated imagined events.

Source amnesia

Faulty recall of memory origin or context.

Déjà vu

Feeling of having experienced a current situation before.

False memories

Memories that feel real but are inaccurate.

Children's eyewitness recall

Children's memory can be influenced by suggestive questioning.

Repressed memories

Memories of trauma that may be unconsciously blocked.