Selective cues to forget can fail to cause forgetting

Recent research has found that individuals can selectively forget a subset of items through directed forgetting. The goal of the present study was to replicate this selective directed forgetting effect and elucidate its underlying mechanisms. Unfortunately, results from four experiments failed to find any evidence of selective directed forgetting. Participants failed to forget any items when instructed to forget a subset of items from a first list before learning a second list. Participants were only successful in forgetting items from the first list when they were instructed to forget all items from the first list before learning the second list.     

No retrieval-induced forgetting using item-specific independent cues: evidence against a general inhibitory account

Retrieval practice with particular items from memory can impair the recall of related items on a later memory test. This retrieval-induced forgetting effect has been ascribed to inhibitory processes (M. C. Anderson & B. A. Spellman, 1995). A critical finding that distinguishes inhibitory from interference explanations is that forgetting is found with independent (or extralist) cues. In 4 experiments, the authors tested whether the forgetting effect is cue-independent. Forgetting was investigated for both studied and unstudied semantically related items. Retrieval-induced forgetting was not found using item-specific independent cues for either studied or unstudied items. However, forgetting was found for both item types when studied categories were used as cues. These results are not in line with a general inhibitory account, because this account predicts retrieval-induced forgetting with independent cues. Interference and context-specific inhibition are discussed as possible explanations for the data.     

When remembering causes forgetting: retrieval-induced forgetting as recovery failure

Retrieval practice on a subset of previously learned material can cause forgetting of the unpracticed material and make it inaccessible to consciousness. Such inaccessibility may arise because the material is no longer sampled from the set of to-be-recalled items, or, though sampled, its representation is not complete enough to be recovered into consciousness. In 2 experiments, it was examined whether retrieval-induced forgetting reflects a sampling or recovery failure by studying the time course of cued recall in this type of situation. Although retrieval practice reduced recall totals of the unpracticed items, in both experiments, the forgetting was not accompanied by an effect on the items' response latencies. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that inhibited items are successfully sampled but, because of a reduction in their activation level, do not exceed the recovery threshold.     

Target strength and retrieval-induced forgetting in semantic recall

Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) occurs when practice of a memory item impairs retrieval of related, unpracticed items. Here, we demonstrated that RIF in semantic memory is retrieval dependent. University students either studied (7 × 8 = 56) or retrieved (7 × 8 = ?) the answers to a set of multiplication problems for 40 blocks and then were tested on their addition counterparts (7 + 8 = ?). For the retrieval practice group, but not the study practice group, response time for the multiplication-practiced addition facts was about 100 msec slower, relative to control addition problems, in the first of five postpractice addition blocks. Subsequent blocks of addition were interleaved with retrieval blocks of all the multiplication counterparts, which permitted measurement of RIF for the control addition problems after only a single retrieval of their multiplication counterparts. The control problems presented RIF in excess of 200 msec, much larger than the RIF observed after massive practice. This is consistent with the hypothesis that inhibition of competitors should be weaker when target strength is high than when target strength is only moderate (Anderson, 2003; Norman, Newman, &; Detre, 2007). The evidence that RIF in semantic retrieval is both retrieval dependent and weaker following massive target practice than following moderate target practice provides strong support for inhibition-based theories of RIF.     

Interference resolution in retrieval-induced forgetting: Behavioral evidence for a nonmonotonic relationship between interference and forgetting

Retrieving memories renders related memories less accessible. This phenomenon, termed retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), is thought to be the result of processes that resolve interference during competitive retrieval. In several studies, researchers have manipulated the level of interference to test different theoretical accounts of RIF (e.g., inhibitory vs. noninhibitory). However, the nature of how interference and RIF are related has not been systematically investigated. Here, we introduce a design that allows for assessing interference during competitive retrieval by measuring the recall RTs associated with target recall. Using such a design, we found that RIF occurred only when interference during competitive retrieval reached moderate levels, but not when it was too low or too high. This finding might indicate that low levels of interference do not trigger interference resolution, whereas interference resolution might fail when the interference reaches extremely high levels.     

Accelerated relearning after retrieval-induced forgetting: the benefit of being forgotten

Research on retrieval-induced forgetting has demonstrated that retrieving some information from memory can cause the forgetting of other information in memory. Here, the authors report research on the relearning of items that have been subjected to retrieval-induced forgetting. Participants studied a list of category- exemplar pairs, underwent a series of retrieval-practice and relearning trials, and, finally, were tested on the initially studied pairs. The final recall of non-relearned items exhibited a cumulative effect of retrieval-induced forgetting such that the size of the effect increased with each block of retrieval practice. Of most interest, and very surprising from a common-sense standpoint, items that were relearned benefited more from that relearning if they had previously been forgotten. The results offer insights into the nature and durability of retrieval-induced forgetting and provide additional evidence that forgetting is an enabler--rather than a disabler--of future learning.     

The roles of delay and retroactive interference in retrieval-induced forgetting

When subjects study items from different categories and then repeatedly retrieve some of the items from some of the categories, retrieval practice typically improves recall of the practiced items but impairs recall of related but unpracticed items, relative to control items from unpracticed categories. Here, we report the results of three experiments, in which we examined practiced and unpracticed items’ delay-induced forgetting (Exp. 1) and their susceptibility to retroactive interference (Exps. 2 and 3). Control items showed the expected memory impairment after longer delay between practice and test and in the presence of retroactive interference. In contrast, both the practiced and the related unpracticed items showed hardly any forgetting under these conditions. The findings are consistent with the results from recent testing-effect studies, which have reported reduced delay-induced forgetting and reduced susceptibility to interference for retrieval-practiced items, and generalize the results to related unpracticed items. The findings are discussed with respect to the inhibitory and noninhibitory accounts of retrieval-induced forgetting, as well as the possible role of selective segregation processes, which may be induced by retrieval practice.     

社会性记忆的新领域:社会性共同提取诱发遗忘

社会性共同提取诱发遗忘以提取诱发遗忘的研究范式为基础,重点关注在社会情境中说者对听者记忆的影响,是社会性记忆研究的一个新领域。基于对不同材料类型社会性共同提取诱发遗忘研究的梳理,探讨听者参与程度、说者特征及说者与听者之间的社会关系、提取时的搜索策略、情绪效价以及个体差异因素对社会性共同提取诱发遗忘产生的影响。研究表明,社会性共同提取诱发遗忘在群体中对促进群体成员记忆趋同方面的作用以及在连续社会互动中的可传递性对集体记忆的形成有重要贡献。未来研究仍需对社会性共同提取诱发遗忘的影响因素、产生机制及相关脑机制以及应用方面做进一步探索。     

Gone but not forgotten: the transient nature of retrieval-induced forgetting

Recent research has demonstrated that the act of remembering can prompt temporary forgetting or, more specifically, the inhibition of particular items in memory. Extending work of this kind, the present research investigated some possible boundary conditions of retrieval-induced forgetting. As expected, a critical determinant of temporary forgetting was the interval between guided retrieval practice and a final recall test. When these two phases were separated by 24 hr, retrieval-induced forgetting failed to emerge. When they occurred in the same testing session, however, retrieval practice prompted the inhibition of related items in memory (i.e., Experiment 1). A delay of 24 hr between the encoding of material and guided retrieval practice reduced but did not eliminate retrieval-induced forgetting (i.e., Experiment 2). These findings are considered in the wider context of adaptive forgetting.     

The relationship between retrieval-induced forgetting, anxiety, and personality

Abstract Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) refers to the finding that the retrieval of a memory trace suppresses the retrieval of rival memory traces, and there is evidence that RIF reflects the effects of cognitive inhibition. The Attentional Control Theory (ACT) postulates that cognitive inhibition will be impaired by a high level of state anxiety, but the effect of anxiety on RIF has not previously been investigated. A sample of 116 participants were tested on the RIF procedure, and were also administered the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory and the Big Five Personality Inventory. The results indicated a significant negative correlation between RIF scores and state anxiety, and a significant positive correlation between RIF scores and extraversion. However, a multiple regression analysis identified extraversion as the main predictor of RIF performance. None of the other personality factors correlated with RIF scores. These findings are consistent with the predictions of the ACT.     

Silence is not golden: a case for socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting

The present research explored the effect of selective remembering and the resulting "silences" on memory. In particular, we examined whether unmentioned information is more likely to be forgotten by a listener if related information is recollected by the speaker than if related information is not recollected by the speaker. In a modification of the retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm, pairs of individuals studied material, but in the practice phase, only one member of each pair selectively recalled it, while the other listened. Experiment 1 employed paired associates, and Experiment 2 used stories. Experiment 3 involved not controlled practice, but free-flowing conversation. In each case, results from a final memory test established not only within-individual retrieval-induced forgetting, but also socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting. The results demonstrate that listening to a speaker remember selectively can induce forgetting of related information in the listener.     

An evaluation of sex and cultural differences in arithmetic retrieval-induced forgetting

Retrieval practice of arithmetic facts (e.g. 2?×?3) can interfere with retrieval of other, closely related arithmetic facts (e.g. 2?+?3), increasing response time (RT) and errors for these problems. Here we examined potential sex and culture-related differences in arithmetic retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). This was motivated by re-analyses of several published arithmetic RIF data sets that appeared to show that the effect occurred for women but not men. Experiment 1 (n?=?72) tested for possible sex differences in a diverse but predominantly Canadian university sample. Experiment 2 (n?=?48) examined potential sex differences in native Chinese participants, which previous research indicated may not be susceptible to the RIF effect for a particular subset of small addition problems (sum?≤?10). In Experiment 1, we found no evidence that the addition RIF effect differed between male and female adults. In Experiment 2, the Chinese adults showed RIF for tie problems (e.g. 2?+?2, 3?+?3, etc.) regardless of sex, but neither sex presented RIF for small non-tie addition problems. The results indicated that the RIF effect is not gender specific, and there might not be strong memory retrieval competition between addition and multiplication facts for non-tie problems in Chinese adults.     

Retrieval-practice task affects relationship between working memory capacity and retrieval-induced forgetting

Retrieving a subset of items from memory can cause forgetting of other items in memory, a phenomenon referred to as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). Individuals who exhibit greater amounts of RIF have been shown to also exhibit superior working memory capacity (WMC) and faster stop-signal reaction times (SSRTs), results which have been interpreted as suggesting that RIF reflects an inhibitory process that is mediated by the processes of executive control. Across four experiments, we sought to further elucidate this issue by manipulating the way in which participants retrieved items during retrieval practice and examining how the resulting effects of forgetting correlated with WMC (Experiments 1–3) and SSRT (Experiment 4). Significant correlations were observed when participants retrieved items from an earlier study phase (within-list retrieval practice), but not when participants generated items from semantic memory (extra-list retrieval practice). These results provide important new insight into the role of executive-control processes in RIF.     

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。     

Inhibiting your native language: the role of retrieval-induced forgetting during second-language acquisition

After immersion in a foreign language, speakers often have difficulty retrieving native-language words--a phenomenon known as first-language attrition. We propose that first-language attrition arises in part from the suppression of native-language phonology during second-language use, and thus is a case of phonological retrieval-induced forgetting. In two experiments, we investigated this hypothesis by having native English speakers name visual objects in a language they were learning (Spanish). Repeatedly naming the objects in Spanish reduced the accessibility of the corresponding English words, as measured by an independent-probe test of inhibition. The results establish that the phonology of the words was inhibited, as access to the concepts underlying the presented objects was facilitated, not impaired. More asymmetry between English and Spanish fluency was associated with more inhibition for native-language words. This result supports the idea that inhibition plays a functional role in overcoming interference during the early stages of second-language acquisition.     

The role of exemplar typicality and encoding strategies in category retrieval-induced forgetting

Selective retrieval practice of category exemplars often impairs the recall of related items, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). In Experiment 1 the role of item typicality (high, low) and presentation format of category exemplars (random, grouped) were analysed, while in Experiment 2 two encoding strategies (inter and intracategory) to modulate RIF were tested. Exemplar typicality was the critical factor underlying RIF. Competition during retrieval practice rendered RIF in the typical exemplars, but RIF did not appear when the exemplars were low typicality. The greater impairment of strong exemplars is in line with the inhibitory account of RIF and the notion of interference dependence. Inhibition appeared with random and grouped presentations suggesting that presentation format of the exemplars is not a critical factor in modulating RIF in a category-cued recall task. Distinctive processing instructions using sentences that connected items from different categories (intercategory strategy) and integration instructions by using size to organise the exemplars within categories (intracategory strategy) easily avoided competition and the need of inhibition processes in recall.     

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。