Chapter 2

Question 1

define remembering

Answer 1

• Remembering is the process of consciously reviving or bringing to awareness previous events, experiences, or information.
• Remembering involves the process of retaining such material, which is essential to learning.

Question 2

define forgetting

Answer 2

• the failure to remember material previously learned
• is an invisible phenomenon that may alter our awareness and environment
• it is typically seen as a hindrance but is an integral part of memory

Question 3

define retrieval inhibition

Answer 3

is an active form of forgetting that is thought to promote the likelihood of retrieving target material by moderating the retrieval accessibility of competing memories through a process of suppressing or inhibiting competing unwanted memories

Question 4

define destructive updating

Answer 4

the idea that we update memory by overwriting older (out of date) information with new info
The notion of “destructive updating” is not practical and simplistic

Question 5

define retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF).

Answer 5

• this specific form of forgetting occurs implicitly because of the selective retrieval practice of other related material (i.e., there are no explicit instructions to forget material)

Question 6

How many phases are the original paradigm developed by Anderson et al. (1994)? Descrbe them.

Answer 6

there are four phases. In phase one Participants are shown category-exemplar pairs. In phase two Recall half of the exemplars from half of the categories. In phase 3, the participants enage in a a distraction task (between 5 and 20 minutes). In phase 4 , the participants are asked to recall all the exemplars that were originally presented.

Question 7

How is retrieval-induced forgetting measured in the Anderson et al. (1994) study?

Answer 7

By comparing recall of unpracticed items from practiced categories with recall of items from unpracticed categories.

Question 8

According to the results of the Anderson et al. (1994) study, which items were remembered the best?
a) Unpracticed items from unpracticed categories (Nrp items)
b) Practiced items from practiced categories (Rp+ items)
c) Unpracticed items from practiced categories (Rp- items)
d) Unpracticed items from unpracticed categories (Nrp items)

Answer 8

b) Practiced items from practiced categories (Rp+ items)

Question 9

Explain the relationship between last-minute studying and performance on a test.

Question 10

Can unintended forgetting be minimized? If so, how?

Answer 10

unintended forgetting can be minimized
- by increasing the richness of the connectivity between items (i.e., increased integration)
-Simple instructions like ‘integrate information’ can help reduce Retrieval induced Forgetting