Prejudice in person memory: Self‐threat biases memories of stigmatized group members

The present research investigated whether self‐threat biases memory via retrieval‐induced forgetting. Results show that people under self‐threat whose goal is to restore their self‐worth by making prejudicial judgments that deprecate others are more likely to exhibit an enhanced RIF effect for positive items and a reduced RIF for negative items ascribed to a stereotyped target (i.e., homosexual). Overall, the present findings are consistent with the view that motivation can affect the magnitude of RIF effects in person memory and that, in turn, they can serve as mechanisms for justifying desired conclusions.     

父亲参照效应的语言与文化差异：来自提取诱发遗忘的证据

采用提取诱发遗忘范式考察维吾尔族人和汉族人在自我参照、父亲参照和他人参照下的记忆特点, 发现维吾尔族被试在自我参照下和父亲参照下均未出现提取诱发遗忘, 在一般他人参照下出现提取诱发遗忘, 说明在维吾尔人中父亲参照加工与自我参照加工相较于一般他人参照加工存在优势; 汉族被试仅在自我参照下未出现提取诱发遗忘, 在父亲参照下和他人参照下均出现了提取诱发遗忘, 说明在汉族被试中仅有自我参照加工相较于一般他人参照加工具有优势, 父亲参照加工并未表现出同样的优势。这表明, 不同的语言和文化影响个体的自我建构, 父亲仅出现在维吾尔族人的自我建构中, 在姓名结构中父名与本名共现与否是影响两个民族自我建构差异的重要因素。     

自我与提取诱发遗忘现象

考察了提取诱发遗忘现象在自我参照、母亲参照和他人参照加工条件下的不同表现,结果发现在前两种加工条件下都没有出现提取诱发的遗忘,而他人参照条件下则表现有这种遗忘,由此以提取诱发遗忘研究的实验范式证明了中国被试中自我参照加工与母亲参照加工相对于一般他人参照加工的优势。这一结果表明,对于中国被试来说,自我参照加工和母亲参照加工任务不仅可能会在总回忆量方面高于他人参照加工,而且经过这两类加工的材料在提取过程中不会形成对相关材料的抑制。另外,实验结果还说明母亲参照加工对于中国被试来说是提取诱发遗忘的一种边界条件。     

Forgetting Trauma: Socially Shared Retrieval‐induced Forgetting and Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder

Memory for related but unpracticed aspects of an event can be impaired by selectively retrieving parts of the same event. This occurs when selective retrieval [within‐individual retrieval‐induced forgetting (WI‐RIF)] is undertaken by individuals and has been extended to social contexts—RIF can be produced in listeners [socially shared retrieval‐induced forgetting (SS‐RIF)] by a speaker's selective recounting. The effects of post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on WI‐RIF and SS‐RIF were examined by two experiments. In Experiment 1, combat veterans (with or without PTSD) and non‐veteran dyads participated in a RIF paired‐associates paradigm adapted for combat‐related stimuli. WI‐RIF and SS‐RIF occurred for combat‐related and neutral pairs regardless of group. However, greater WI‐RIF and SS‐RIF for combat‐related words were shown by individuals with PTSD. These findings were replicated by Experiment 2, in which either a combat‐related or neutral story was learned by participants, and selective retrieval was embedded in a conversation. That the selective retrieval of trauma‐related stimuli leads to enhancement of induced forgetting for individuals with PTSD under certain conditions is suggested by these data. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Retrieval‐induced forgetting in normal ageing

The retrieval‐induced forgetting (RIF) paradigm was used to assess the integrity of unintentional inhibitory functioning in normal ageing. The paradigm was adapted to explore the RIF effect under conditions that allow us to differentiate the contribution of intentional and automatic retrieval processes to performance. The results showed the presence of equivalent and significant RIF effects in young and older adults, for both the intentional and automatic retrieval performance. These results suggest that unintentional inhibitory processes are spared in normal ageing and confirm that RIF effect is independent of the kind of memory processes involved in task performance.     

Retrieval‐induced forgetting is inversely relatedto everyday cognitive failures

It has recently been suggested ( Anderson, 2003 ) that forgetting is an adaptive process arising from successful inhibition of unwanted items, rather than arising from a failure of the memory system. This inhibition process is thought to make use of retrieval‐induced forgetting (RIF). In the present study, individual susceptibility to RIF was measured in a group of 40 normal participants, whose RIF scores were then compared with their scores on the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ). A significant inverse correlation was found between RIF and CFQ scores, indicating that individuals who show a strong RIF effect tend to suffer a lower rate of cognitive failures and forgetfulness in everyday life. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that RIF might play a role in facilitating memory function by assisting selective retrieval.     

The ‘Magical’ Effect of Integration on Event Memory

Only a handful of studies have extended our understanding of retrieval induced forgetting (RIF) during development and even fewer have tested for RIF effects outside word‐list paradigms. The purpose of these experiments was to: (i) examine how partial retrieval of a witnessed event would impact subsequent retrieval of that event in school‐aged children; and (ii) examine the robustness of semantic integration as a boundary condition on RIF. Two experiments were conducted using the three traditional phases of the RIF paradigm: study phase, practice phase, and test phase. We found clear evidence of RIF in event memory. There was also evidence of the robust impact that integration instructions have on minimizing RIF. Integration appears to not only have a dampening effect on RIF, but integration instructions may also influence how children process all aspects of an experience, regardless of whether a person is passively or actively part of the experience.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

语言和文化对自我参照条件下提取诱发遗忘的影响——来自汉族人和摩梭人的证据

采用提取诱发遗忘范式考察摩梭人和汉族人在自我参照、母亲参照、姨母参照和他人参照条件下的加工规律, 发现摩梭被试在自我参照、母亲参照、姨母参照条件下都未出现提取诱发遗忘, 而在一般他人参照条件下出现了提取诱发遗忘; 汉族被试在自我参照、母亲参照条件下未出现提取诱发遗忘, 而在姨母参照、他人参照条件下出现了提取诱发遗忘。这表明, 不同的文化和语言影响人的自我构建, 在汉族人的自我结构中包含有母亲, 而摩梭人将母亲、姨母皆作为重要的他人纳入自我建构中, 使得母亲参照和姨母参照产生与自我参照同样的记忆优势。     

I was always on my mind: The self and temporary forgetting

Previous research has demonstrated that the act of remembering can prompt the temporary suppression of related items in memory—that is,retrieval-induced forgetting (Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994). In extending work of this kind, the present research sought to identify some important boundary conditions of this effect. As expected, temporary forgetting was eliminated under task conditions that elicited distinctive encoding operations—specifically, when material was relevant to the self. This result is noteworthy since it identifies spontaneous processing operations that protect information from temporary forgetting, a finding that has important implications both for the emergence of this inhibitory effect in everyday life and for theoretical treatments of memory function.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting after trauma: a study with victims of sexual assault

The Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF) paradigm is used to study how the repeated retrieval practice of particular memories impairs the retrieval of related memory traces. A study is reported where this automatic form of forgetting was investigated in a group of sexual-assault victims and a control group. Using a recognition-cued RIF task, the present study examined RIF with neutral, positive, negative and trauma-specific stimuli. Response time data showed that irrespective of previous trauma exposure, a RIF effect was observed for neutral material, but not for emotional material. No differences in RIF between the trauma group and the control group were found. Inconsistencies with previous literature and the implications for emotional memory are discussed.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting after trauma: A study with victims of sexual assault

The Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF) paradigm is used to study how the repeated retrieval practice of particular memories impairs the retrieval of related memory traces. A study is reported where this automatic form of forgetting was investigated in a group of sexual-assault victims and a control group. Using a recognition-cued RIF task, the present study examined RIF with neutral, positive, negative and trauma-specific stimuli. Response time data showed that irrespective of previous trauma exposure, a RIF effect was observed for neutral material, but not for emotional material. No differences in RIF between the trauma group and the control group were found. Inconsistencies with previous literature and the implications for emotional memory are discussed.     

Forgetting in context: The effects of age, emotion, and social factors on retrieval-induced forgetting

Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) refers to the finding that selectively retrieving some information impairs subsequent memory for related but nonretrieved information. This occurs both for the individual doing the remembering (i.e., within-individual retrieval-induced forgetting: WI-RIF), as well as for individuals merely listening to those recollections (i.e., socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting: SS-RIF). In the present study, we examined how the contextual factors of age and emotion independently and interactively affect both WI-RIF and SS-RIF. The results indicated that both WI-RIF and SS-RIF occurred at equivalent levels, both for younger and older adults and for neutral and emotional information. However, we identified a boundary condition to this effect: People only exhibited SS-RIF when the speaker that they were listening to was of the same sex as themselves. Given that participants reported feeling closer to same-sex speakers, this suggests that people co-retrieve more, and therefore exhibit increased SS-RIF, with close others. In everyday life, these RIF effects should influence what information is remembered versus forgotten in individual and collective memories.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting in young children

A prominent theory of cognitive development attributes the poor performance that children show in many cognitive tasks to a general lack of inhibitory control. We tested this theory by examining children’s inhibitory capabilities in retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), a memory task in which selective retrieval of previously studied material causes forgetting of related, nonretrieved material. Such forgetting is often attributed to inhibitory control processes, which supposedly suppress the nonretrieved items’ memory representation. We examined RIF in kindergartners, second graders, and adults, using both recall and recognition testing. Although all three age groups showed significant RIF in recall, only adults and second graders, but not kindergartners, showed RIF in recognition. Because inhibition-based RIF should be present in recall and recognition, these findings indicate that in adults and second graders, but not in kindergartners, RIF is mediated by inhibition. The results support the view of inefficient inhibitory processes in young children’s cognition.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting and unwanted thought intrusions

The act of retrieving an existing memory has been found to inhibit the recall of related memories, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that individuals with a strong RIF effect might be better at suppressing unwanted intrusive thoughts. In Experiment 1 the relationship between RIF and the prevalence of intrusive thoughts was investigated using a sample of 58 normal British participants, who completed three different questionnaires to measure their susceptibility to intrusive thoughts, obsessional thoughts, and impulsive thoughts. Their susceptibility to RIF was also measured, using the standard procedure introduced by Anderson, Bjork, and Bjork (1994). The results showed a significant RIF effect, and, although no significant correlations were found between RIF strength and any of the three measures of intrusive thoughts, there was some evidence to suggest a possible relationship between RIF and intrusive thoughts. In an effort to clarify these inconclusive findings, Experiment 2 investigated the relationship between RIF and intrusive thoughts in a different and more varied population sample, consisting of 90 normal members of the Greek population. Experiment 2 confirmed the RIF effect, but no significant association was found between RIF and intrusive thoughts. These findings therefore offer no support for the hypothesis that RIF assists the suppression of intrusive thoughts in normal individuals.     

Retrieval-Induced Forgetting and Executive Control

ABSTRACT— Retrieving information from long-term memory can lead people to forget previously irrelevant related information. Some researchers have proposed that this retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) effect is mediated by inhibitory executive-control mechanisms recruited to overcome interference. We assessed whether inhibition in RIF depends on executive processes. The RIF effect observed in a standard retrieval-practice condition was compared to that observed in two different conditions in which participants had to perform two concurrent updating tasks that demanded executive attention. Whereas the usual RIF effect was observed when retrieval practice was performed singly, no evidence of forgetting was found in the dual-task conditions. Results strongly suggest that inhibition involved in RIF is the result of executive-control processes.     

Inhibitory processes in memory are impaired in schizophrenia: Evidence from retrieval induced forgetting

Schizophrenic patients are known to exhibit inhibitory impairments in response suppression and selective attention. However, the impairment of inhibitory control in memory retrieval has not clearly been documented. In two experiments, we investigate inhibition in memory retrieval by using the retrieval practice procedure. In Expt 1, a cued recall final test was used. Consistent with previous research, we found similar retrieval‐induced forgetting (RIF) effects in schizophrenic patients and in controls. However, these effects could be the result of interference/blocking or the results of inhibition. In order to reduce the influence of blocking in Expt 2, we used a recognition test. We found that RIF was reduced in patients, compared to healthy controls. The elimination of RIF effect in patients, when the influence of blocking is reduced, indicates that inhibitory processes in memory are altered in schizophrenia. Result suggest that schizophrenic patients suffer from critical impairments in inhibitory processes involved in memory retrieval, similar to the inhibitory deficits found in other cognitive domains.     

Retrieval‐induced forgetting of autobiographical memory details

Several studies suggest that intrusive and overgeneral autobiographical memory are correlated. Thus, paradoxically, in some patients a hyperaccessibility of memory for one (series of) event(s) goes hand‐in‐hand with a scarcity of memories for other personal experiences. This clinical observation is reminiscent of the laboratory phenomenon of retrieval‐induced forgetting (RIF). This refers to the finding that repeatedly recalling some experimental stimuli impairs subsequent recall of related (i.e., tied to the same retrieval cue) stimuli. RIF of emotional autobiographical memories might provide an experimental model for the clinical memory phenomena in question. The present paper reports two experiments that explored the merits of applying the retrieval practice paradigm to relatively broad categories of autobiographical memories. Both studies found a significant RIF effect in that practised memories were recalled better than unrelated unpractised (baseline) memories. In addition, unpractised memories that were related to the practised memories were recalled more poorly than baseline memories. Implications of these findings for modelling the co‐occurrence of intrusive and overgeneral memories are discussed.     

Inter‐ and intra‐cultural variations in self‐other boundary: A qualitative‐quantitative approach

Past research on the theories of self‐construal and individualism‐collectivism in cross‐cultural contexts presents inconsistent and inconclusive results. Some researchers have seriously questioned the validity of major instruments measuring self‐construal across cultural groups. To address the validity issue, this study developed quantitative measures from ethnographic data. In five scenarios mapping self to close‐other boundaries, 171 Anglo‐Canadians and 224 Mainland Chinese were asked to make a decision and offer a reason for the decision. Two intriguing findings emerged from the data. (1) In comparison with Anglo‐Canadians, Mainland Chinese were more likely to share material belongings with close‐others and less likely to share their thoughts/opinions. The first part of this finding provides unequivocal support for the theories of self‐construal and individualism‐collectivism, whereas the latter part challenges an important assumption of these theories, which contends that collectivists should be more likely than individualists to share everything they own (including opinions) with close‐others. This unconventional finding proposes the division of material belongings and thoughts/opinions sharing of the self‐other boundary in future cross‐cultural self‐construal research. (2) There were significant differences in the reasons Canadians and Chinese offered for what they would or would not do in a specific situation. For example, the reasons for not telling the truth about a roommate's nonmatching outfit were “tastes differ from person to person” for a Canadian and “I don't tell others what I think of them” for a Chinese. The Canadians clearly show respect for the other's personal preference and the Chinese were thinking “what can I benefit from telling her the truth?” It was reasoned that underneath the giving and generous Chinese lies a shrewd mind, and underneath the frank Canadian lies a materialistic mind. In conclusion, this article contributes to the field in that it reports pioneering research, via both qualitative and quantitative means, on sharing material belongings and opinions/thoughts in samples from individualistic and collectivistic cultures. The findings of this study illustrate, specify, and challenge the universal utility of the theories of self‐construal and individualism‐collectivism.     

Thinking about “why” eliminates retrieval‐induced forgetting: Levels of construal affect retrieval dynamics

The present study examined how levels of construal affect retrieval‐induced forgetting. Higher‐level construal is associated with the focus on the similarities among stimuli, suggesting that high‐level construal promotes relational processing. Based on this fact, retrieval‐induced forgetting may be reduced or eliminated under high‐level construal condition because of the effect of relational processing. Two experiments were conducted using a retrieval‐practice paradigm with different stimuli while priming the level of construal. A meta‐analysis synthesizing the results showed that retrieval‐induced forgetting occurred under the low‐level construal condition, whereas forgetting did not occur under the high‐level construal condition. These results suggest that abstract thinking can eliminate retrieval‐induced forgetting because of relational processing, demonstrating the role of the levels of construal on memory inhibition.     

Selective retrieval and induced forgetting in eyewitness memory

This study analyses retrieval‐induced forgetting (RIF) in eyewitness memory. Selective retrieval of specific information about an event could cause eyewitnesses to forget related contents. Based on a video of a man being robbed while withdrawing money from a cash machine, we examined the effects of partial retrieval on the most relevant aspects of the event: actions (Experiment 1) and offender characteristics (Experiment 2), in both immediate and long‐term recall (24 hours). In both experiments long‐term recall was a replica of immediate recall for correct information as well as errors. The effects of partial retrieval practice were also repeated in long‐term recall. Conventional RIF was found for offender characteristics but selective retrieval of the actions of the event produced no comparable effect. It is assumed that the organisation and integration of the actions of the event protected them from RIF. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.