Why We Forget

Question 1

What are 5 mechanisms that account for forgetting?

Answer 1

• decay
• replacement
• interference
• cue-dependent forgetting
• repression

Question 2

Define: decay theory

Answer 2

-memories eventually disappear over time if not accessed

applies better to STM rather than LTM

Question 3

Define: replacement

Answer 3

-new information entering memory can replace old information

Question 4

Similar items of information interfering with one another in storage or retrieval is called…

Answer 4

-interference

Question 5

What are the 2 types of interference?

Answer 5

• retroactive interference

- proactive interference

Question 6

Define: retroactive interference

Answer 6

-recently learned material interferes with remembering similar material stored previously

Question 7

Define: proactive interference

Answer 7

-previous learned material interferes with remembering similar material that is more recently learned

Question 8

When we need to remember we often rely on __________, items of information that can help us find the specific information we are looking for.

Answer 8

-retrieval cues

Question 9

Define: cue-dependent forgetting

Answer 9

-inability to retrieve information stored in memory due to insufficient cues for recall

Question 10

Cues in ______ context match those from the ______.

Answer 10

• present

- past

Question 11

Define: state-dependent memory

Answer 11

-remembering something when in the same physical or mental state as during the original learning or experience

Question 12

Define: mood-congruent memory

Answer 12

-remembering experiences that are consistent with one’s mood, and ignoring or rejecting memories that are not

Question 13

Define: amnesia

Answer 13

-partial or complete loss of memory for important personal information

Question 14

What usually causes “amnesia”?

Answer 14

• brain disease

- head injury

Question 15

What type of amnesia’s cause for forgetting is psychological?

Answer 15

-psychogenic amnesia

Question 16

Define: psychogenic amnesia?

Answer 16

• forgetting begins immediately after event
• involves mass memory loss, including loss of identity
• usually lasts up to a few weeks
• one immediately snaps out of it
• very rare

Question 17

What type of amnesia is highly controversial?

Answer 17

-traumatic amnesia

Question 18

Define: traumatic amnesia

Answer 18

-burying memory of traumatic events for extended periods of time
-when retrieved many years later, it is recalled perfectly
(supposedly immune to distortion and confabulation)

Question 19

Where did the notion of traumatic amnesia originate?

Answer 19

• Sigmund Freud’s mechanism of “repression”

- he called it the “involuntary pushing of threatening information into the unconscious”

Question 20

Why do most people reject the notion of “traumatic amnesia”?

Answer 20

• it lacks empirical evidence

- repression is hard to distinguish from normal forgetting

Question 21

Reluctance to think about an upsetting event is _______ from the inability to remember it.

Answer 21

-different

Question 22

Does evidence support “dissociation” as a result of early trauma?

Answer 22

-no

Question 23

What makes a person’s recollections more trustworthy?

Answer 23

if backed by evidence

• medical records
• school records
• police records
• accounts from other witnesses

Question 24

Should we be skeptical when a person says they recall memories from the first couple years of life?

Answer 24

-yes, because it is impossible physiologically as well as cognitively

Question 25

When should we be most skeptical of a recovered traumatic memory?

Answer 25

if it appeared…

• as a result of therapy (can increase confabulation)
• after reading something in the news
• after reading a top selling autobiography about the issue