Forgetting Flashcards
Forgetting curve
Shows the pattern (rate and amount) of forgetting over time.
Forgetting
Refers to the inability to access or recover information previously stored in memory.
Retrieval cue
Any stimulus that assists the process of locating and recovering information stored in memory.
Retrieval failure theory
States that we sometimes forget because we lack or fail to use the right cues to retrieve information stored in LTM.
Tip Of the Tongue (TOT)
A state or ‘feeling’ that occurs when you are aware of knowing something, and confident you will eventually remember it, but you are not able to retrieve it from memory at that time.
Interference Theory
Proposes that forgetting in LTM occurs because other memories interfere with the retrieval of what we are trying to recover, particularly if the memories are similar.
Retroactive interference
When new information interferes with the ability to remember old information.
Proactive interference
Information learned previously can interfere with our ability to remember new information.
Motivated forgetting
Describes forgetting that arises from a strong motive or desire to forget, usually because the experience is too disturbing or upsetting to remember.
Repression
Involves unconsciously blocking a memory of an event or experience from entering conscious awareness.
Suppression
Involves being motivated to forget an event or experience by making a deliberate conscious effort to keep it out of conscious awareness.
Decay theory
States that forgetting occurs because the neural representation of a memory fades through disuse as time passes, unless it is reactivated by being used occasionally.
