Forgetting & Memory Distortion

why do we forget?

encoding failure and retrieval failure

encoding failure

occurs when memory was never properly formed in the 1st place

we can't learn/recall what we don't intend to

retrieval failure

information has been retained/stored, but we are having difficulty accessing it

interference

when info blocks/inhibits the retrieval of other info

proactive interference

when old info blocks the retrieval of new info

EX) when you get a new phone number

retroactive interference

when new info blocks the retrieval of old info

EX) trying to remember your freshmen year locker combo as a sophomore

storage decay + Ebbinghaus (1885)

• the durability of stored mem

• memorized nonsense syllables (bix, fej, jih)

• research led to the forgetting curve

  • shows steep initial drop in retention of info, but evens out overtime

amnesia

partial or complete loss of memory due to physical or psychological damage

can be temporary or permanent

anterograde amnesia

inabilty to form new mems (esp. LTM) after the injury or trauma

damage to the hippocampus

retrograde amnesia

inability to retrieve info./mems from one's past before the injury or trauma occurred

involves brain's parts other than the hippocampus

source amnesia

faulty mem for how, or where info was learned or imagined

aka source of misattribution

repression

defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and mems of our consciousness

freud and repression

proposed that memory systems self-censor in an effort to protect our self-concept and minimize feelings of shame/anxiety

• repressed mems are likely just ideas that were implanted during therapy sessions, not recollections of real events

suppression

conscious process of deliberately trying to forget something that causes distress

one effective way to do this: distract ourselves by keeping busy with anything not related to the emotional pain

reconsolidation

a process in which previously stored mems, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

misinformation effect

when misleading info distorts one's mems of an event

Elizabeth Loftus

Key Researcher

testing if the tweaking of questions influences a groups perceptions