Forgetting

Question 1

Define Incidental Forgetting

Answer 1

Occurs without the intention to forget

Question 2

Define Motivated Forgetting

Answer 2

Purposefully diminish access to memory (e.g., unwanted memories)

Question 3

Define Superior Autobiographical Memory

Answer 3

• Uncontrollable remembering
• Feels as though the person relives the events they remember
• Remembering is “automatic”, effortless, and not under conscious control
• Cannot forget unpleasant memories
• Memories can be distracting

Question 4

Define Consolidation

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

Define Synaptic Consolidations.

Answer 5

○ Structural changes in the synaptic connections between neurons
○ May take hours – days to complete
Memories are vulnerable until these changes are complete

Question 6

Define Systems Consolidation.

Answer 6

• Gradual shift of memory from hippocampus to the cortex
• Memory components (in the cortex) are replayed until they are linked
• May take months to years to complete
• Memories are vulnerable for as long as they rely on hippocampus
• Makes memories more stable

Question 7

What are the Causes of Incidental Forgetting?

Answer 7

• Trace Decay - memories weaken due to time
• Context Shifts - different cues are available now than the ones available at encoding
• Interference - similar memories hinder retrieval

Question 8

What is the competition assumption of memory interference?

Answer 8

Memories associated with a shared cue automatically impede retrieval when the cue is presented.

Question 9

Define Retroactive Interference.

Answer 9

• Introducing a new (second) memory impairs recall of a first memory (especially similar
• Especially strong interference if the two lists share cues
• More training on the second list results in more first list impairment

Question 10

Define Proactive Interference.

Answer 10

• The tendency of older memories to interfere with retrieval of recent experiences and knowledge
• The number of previous learning experiences (e.g., lists) determine the rate of forgetting of new ones
• PI is more severe for recall than recognition

Question 11

What is Jost’s Law?

Answer 11

• All else equal, older memories are more durable and forgotten less rapidly than newer memories.
• New memories are initially more vulnerable to disruption/distortion until they are consolidated.

Question 12

What is Partial-Set Cuing impairment of forgetting?

Answer 12

• The tendency for recall to be impaired by provision of retrieval cues drawn from the same category of items in memory.
• Providing cues (i.e. competitor items) reduces recall for the non-cued items (i.e. targets).

Question 13

What is Retrieval-Induced Forgetting?

Answer 13

• Selective/partial retrieval can harm recall of other memories related to the retrieved item
• Selective retrieval may contribute to more severe forgetting for information that is not practiced/retrieved

Question 14

What are the two memory interference mechanisms?

Answer 14

1. Associative Blocking

2. Associative Unlearning

Question 15

Describe Associative Blocking

Answer 15

When a cue fails to elicit a target trace because it repeatedly elicits a stronger competitor, leading people to abandon efforts to retrieve target.

Question 16

Describe Associative Unlearning

Answer 16

○ Associative bond linking a stimulus to a memory trace is punished by weakening it after being retrieved in error
○ Difficult to demonstrate empirically.

Question 17

Function of inhibition.

Answer 17

It allows an unwanted response to be stopped, while an alternative response needs to get strengthened