5: Forgetting Flashcards
What are the 2 types of forgetting?
incidental & motivated
define: incidental forgetting
forgetting that occurs without the intention to forget
define: motivated forgetting
Purposefully diminish access to memory (e.g., unwanted memories)
what characterises superior autobiographical memory?
Ø Feels as though the person relives the events they remember
Ø Remembering is “automatic”, effortless, and not under conscious control
Ø Cannot forget unpleasant memories
Ø Memories can be distracting
Describe the forgetting curve
§Logarithmic relationship
§Forgetting rapid initially
§Less additional forgetting at longer intervals
In Meeter’s 2005 forgetting rate study, how did the forgetting rate change in a year?
Recall for events dropped from 60% to 30% in a year
In Bahrick’s 1975 yearbook study, how did recall and recognition differ?
§ Recognition of classmates’ faces/names remained intact
§ Match up names with faces also unimpaired
§ Recall a name when given a person’s pictures was extensively impaired
§ Rate of forgetting was similar to Ebbinghaus forgetting curve
What is the testing/ generation effect?
Repeated attempts to retrieve – (testing effect/ generation effect) builds up resistance to forgetting
What is Jost’s Law?
O§All else equal, older memories are more durable and forgotten less rapidly than newer memories
New memories are more vulnerable to disruption/distortion until they are consolidated
define: consolidation
The process that transforms new memories from a fragile state, in which they can be disrupted, to a more permanent state, in which they are resistant to disruption.
define: reconsolidation
The process by which a consolidated memory restabilises again after being reactivated by reminders.
During the reconsolidation a memory is vulnerable to disruption.
define: trace decay
memories weaken due to passage of time
define: context shifts
– different cues are available now than the
ones available at encoding
define: interference
similar memories hinder retrieval
What are the 2 opposing biological mechanisms that explain trace decay
Synaptic connections degrade and neurons die as time goes by = memories may die or fade in the same way
Neurogenesis (growth of new neurons – esp. in hippocampus) means that the structure is remodelled and its connections are gradually modified
What are the 3 criticisms of trace decay
- Behaviourally it is difficult to prove trace decay
- Two important factors cannot be controlled when attributing forgetting to decay:
1) Rehearsal
2) Interference - Are memories unavailable or simply inaccessible?
What are correlates of time and how do they effect retrieval?
it is not the passing of time itself but the contextual fluctuations and interference that occurs that leads to forgetting
define: competition assumption
Memories associated to a shared cue automatically impede retrieval when the cue is presented (competitors interfere with finding the target memory)
define: proactive interference
The tendency of older memories to interfere with retrieval of recent experiences and knowledge
define: retroactive interference
The tendency of newer memories to interfere with retrieval of older experiences and knowledge
What is necessary for retroactive inference to occur?
Not every type of intervening experience impairs memory – the experience needs to be similar
Which is a better predictor of forgetting, time or interference?
Interference
What is part-setting cue impairment?
type of associative blocking, when given cues that are not useful, it impedes retrieval
What is retrieval induced forgetting?
remembering causes forgetting of other related information that is not recalled (incomplete retrieval)
define: associative blocking
A cue fails to elicit a target trace because it repeatedly elicits a stronger competitor, leading people to abandon efforts to retrieve target
define: associative unlearning
Associative bond linking a stimulus to a memory trace is punished by weakening it after a competitor is retrieved in error
