The role of retrieval practice in directed forgetting

Three experiments tested the possibility that retrieval-induced forgetting is responsible for directed forgetting with the list method. In Experiments 1 and 2, additional List 2 retrieval practice was given to determine whether this would increase directed forgetting. In Experiment 1 all items came from a single category, and in Experiment 2 unrelated words were used. In Experiment 3 additional List 2 study accompanied List 2 retrieval practice. There was no evidence that List 2 retrieval practice, with or without additional List 2 study, affected the magnitude of directed forgetting. It was argued that retrieval-induced forgetting could not account for these results. Accounts with greater viability include retrieval strategy disruption and a modified version of the dissociation hypothesis.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting occurs in tests of item recognition

Using the retrieval-practice paradigm (Anderson, R. A. Bjork, & E. L. Bjork, 1994), we tested whether or not retrieval-induced forgetting could be found in item recognition tests. In Experiment 1, retrieval practice on items from semantic categories depressed recognition of nonpracticed items from the same categories. Similar results were found in Experiment 2 in a more stringent source test for practiced, nonpracticed, and new items. These results conceptually replicate those of previous retrieval-induced forgetting studies done with cued recall (e.g., Anderson et al., 1994). Our findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that item-specific cues during retrieval will eliminate retrieval interference in the retrieval-practice paradigm (Butler, Williams, Zacks, & Maki, 2001). We discuss our results in relation to other retrieval interference and inhibition effects in recall and recognition.     

On the role of item similarity in retrieval-induced forgetting

We report on two experiments designed to examine how the similarity of retrieval-practised and not-retrieval-practised items influences the amount of retrieval-induced forgetting. Participants studied categorised item lists with each category consisting of exemplars from two different semantic subcategories. Using both the retrieval practice paradigm (Experiment 1) and the output interference paradigm (Experiment 2) we found that the retrieval of a subset of the studied items impaired the subsequent recall of the nonpractised items if the two types of items were fairly dissimilar to each other (same category but different subcategory) but did not induce impairment if the two types of items were highly similar (same category and subcategory). These results indicate that a high degree of similarity of practised and nonpractised items can eliminate retrieval-induced forgetting. They also suggest that forgetting in the retrieval practice paradigm and forgetting in the output interference paradigm are mediated by the same mechanisms. The relation of the present results to other very recent findings about the role of item similarity in retrieval-induced forgetting in discussed.     

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.     

Providing corrective feedback during retrieval practice does not increase retrieval-induced forgetting

Recalling a subset of studied materials can impair subsequent retrieval of related, nontested materials. In two experiments, we examined the influence of providing corrective feedback (no feedback, immediate feedback, delayed feedback) during retrieval practice on this retrieval-induced forgetting effect. Performance was assessed with category cued recall (e.g., recall all exemplars studied under Weather), category-and-stem cued recall (e.g., Weather–B___), and recognition. We report a dissociation between the effects of feedback on memory of the tested materials and the nontested materials. Whereas providing immediate or delayed feedback (compared to no feedback) improved recall and recognition of the tested items, it had no influence on retrieval-induced forgetting. These results are consistent with the inhibition account of retrieval-induced forgetting. From an applied perspective, this finding is encouraging for students and educators who use testing to foster learning.     

Age differences in memory control: evidence from updating and retrieval-practice tasks

Some contemporary approaches suggest that inhibitory mechanisms play an important role in cognitive development. In addition, several authors distinguish between intentional and unintentional inhibitory processes in cognition. We report two experiments aimed at exploring possible developmental changes in these two types of inhibitory mechanisms. In Experiment 1, an updating task was used. This task requires that participants intentionally suppress irrelevant information from working memory. In Experiment 2, the retrieval-practice task was used. Retrieval practice of a subset of studied items is thought to involve unintentional inhibitory processes to overcome interference from competing memories. As a result, suppressed items become forgotten in a later memory test. Results of the experiments indicated that younger children (8) were less efficient than older children (12) and adults at intentionally suppressing information (updating task). However, when the task required unintentional inhibition of competing items (retrieval-practice task), this developmental trend was not found and children and adults showed similar levels of retrieval-induced forgetting. The results are discussed in terms of the development of efficient inhibition and the distinction between intentional and unintentional inhibitions.     

社会分享型提取诱发遗忘的性别差异：来自关系动机的影响作用

社会互动提取任务中,说者的选择性提取会造成听者对相关内容的遗忘,这被称为社会分享型提取诱发遗忘。本研究基于关系动机的视角,分别考察女性组合和男性组合条件下,听者社会分享型提取诱发遗忘的表现特点。结果表明,女性组合中的听者在同性别说者在场的条件下,出现了社会分享型提取诱发遗忘;而男性组合中的听者在同性别说者在场的条件下,无该现象出现。以上结果为关系动机影响社会分享型提取诱发遗忘提供了实证证据。     

Are the inhibitory and faciliatory effects during retrieval of semantically related items present in amnestic mild cognitive impairment?

Prefrontal functions subserve inhibition control for retrieval of semantically related items inducing forgetting 19 a-MCI patients and 29 controls underwent neuropsychological evaluation and retrieval-practice paradigm (RPP) to estimate baseline remember (BR), retrieval-induced facilitation (FAC) and retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). A-MCI patients underwent also 3 T-MRI to assess relationship between regional grey matter (rGM) volumes and RPP indexes Behaviourally, RIF and FAC were both observed controls, while RIF only was observed in a-MCI patients. In patients but not in controls, RIF was associated with cognitive efficiency and FAC with memory performance. Patients showed also associations between BR and rGM volumes in the precuneus, no association was found between rGM volumes and RIF and FAC. A-MCI patients did not benefit from repeated practice during retrieval of studied items, which is likely due to their memory disorder. In contrast, patient cognitive efficiency would drive retrieval suppression of interfering stimuli.     

The processing of inter-item relations as a moderating factor of retrieval-induced forgetting

We investigated influences of item generation and emotional valence on retrieval-induced forgetting. Drawing on postulates of the three-factor theory of generation effects, generation tasks differentially affecting the processing of inter-item relations were applied. Whereas retrieval-induced forgetting of freely generated items was moderated by the emotional valence as well as retrieval-induced forgetting of read items, even though in the reverse direction (Experiment 1), fragment completion eliminated the moderation of retrieval-induced forgetting by emotional valence (Experiment 2). The results corroborate the assumption that the processing of inter-item relations is crucial for the immunization against retrieval-induced forgetting. Moreover, differential processing of inter-item relations may clarify the mixed results on moderating factors of retrieval-induced forgetting that have been reported.     

From A to Z? Retrieval-induced forgetting of non-verbal information indicates how writing systems can shape memory organisation

We investigated retrieval-induced forgetting of motor sequences in samples of Chinese participants. Retrieval-induced forgetting occurs when selective retrieval of a subset of information stored in memory causes forgetting for the non-retrieved rest. This phenomenon critically depends on the organised storage of separate categories of memory representations. In studies with participants from a Western culture (Germany), a categorization in left- and right-hand movements previously had been supported by letter stimuli based on a spatial mental representation of the Roman alphabet. The same assignment of letters from the beginning or end of the alphabet to motor sequences performed either with the left- or the right-hand did not entail retrieval-induced forgetting in the present study, however (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, visual features of displaying to-be-learned sequences additionally supported a distinction into left and right. In Experiment 3, learning trials provided verbal category labels. The occurrence of retrieval-induced forgetting in the latter two experiments suggests language-dependent organisation of non-verbal items in memory.     

情绪对提取诱发遗忘的影响

从学习材料的情绪性和提取过程的情绪状态两方面考察了情绪对提取诱发遗忘的影响。结果发现提取练习对情绪性与非情绪性材料引发了同等程度的遗忘;提取练习阶段,当被试处于正性或中性情绪状态下也会发生明显的提取诱发遗忘现象,而当被试处于负性情绪状态时,提取练习不会导致对未提取项目的遗忘。研究结果表明,学习材料的情绪性不影响提取诱发遗忘,而提取过程的情绪状态会对提取诱发遗忘产生影响,负性情绪状态可以消除提取诱发遗忘。     

定向遗忘中提取抑制的机制：成功提取引起抑制

两个实验采用无关材料考察了字表方式下提取诱发遗忘解释定向遗忘中提取抑制的可能性。在实验中,学习完两个字表后,对字表2 进行不同次数（0、1、3次）的提取练习以考察是否会增强定向遗忘效应以及定向遗忘效应是否随着提取练习次数的增加而增强。实验一中,字表2提取练习是要求被试回忆字表2项目,不给予线索提示。在实验二中,采用词干补笔测验的形式对字表2进行提取练习,词干补笔测验保证了对字表2项目的成功提取。研究结果发现,只有在实验二中对字表2的成功提取练习增强了定向遗忘效应,从而表明成功提取可以解释定向遗忘中的提取抑制     

The role of inhibitory control in forgetting semantic knowledge

Previous research has shown that episodic retrieval recruits inhibitory processes that impair memory for related events. We report two experiments examining whether inhibitory processes may also be involved in causing semantic memory lapses. In a semantic retrieval-practice paradigm, subjects were given trials presenting a cue (a homograph in Experiment 1, a category in Experiment 2) linked to many different items in semantic memory. For each cue, subjects used general knowledge to generate no (baseline), one, four, or eight different items of semantic knowledge. Afterward, we determined through an apparently unrelated free-association test whether a critical nonpracticed concept associated to the cue had been inhibited. Both experiments found that generating items from semantic memory suppressed competing concepts, and that this impairment was cue independent. These findings show that inhibitory control processes overcome interference during semantic retrieval and that recruitment of these processes may contribute to semantic forgetting.     

Forgetting the unforgotten affective autobiographical memories in nonclinical dissociators

Inefficient memory inhibition has been observed in nonclinical and clinical dissociators. Paradoxically, dissociators also report unusual forgetfulness. Investigating how forgetting emerges in dissociators may uncover the antecedents for their self-report memory problems. We postulated that set switch can link inefficient memory inhibition to forgetting. Recollection detour, which involves an affect switch, may elicit forgetting of previously uninhibited memories in nonclinical dissociators. This hypothesis was verified in participants with high- and low-dissociation proneness via a retrieval practice paradigm using positive and negative autobiographical memories. After the study and retrieval-practice phases, memories of the practiced affect category were tested without and with intervening recall of the unpracticed affect category in the control and detour condition, respectively. Nondissociators showed reduced recall in the control condition, replicating the retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) effect and recollection detour did not alter the RIF effect. By contrast, nonclinical dissociators showed the RIF effect in the detour condition but not in the control condition. Detour to recollecting memories of another affect category rendered an aftereffect of forgetting of previously uninhibited memories in nonclinical dissociators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

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.     

Explaining retrieval-induced forgetting: A change in mental context between the study and restudy practice phases is not sufficient to cause forgetting

Retrieving information can impair the subsequent recall of related information. Such retrieval-induced forgetting is often attributed to inhibitory mechanisms, but Jonker, MacLeod, and Seli (2013) recently proposed an alternative account. In their view, the study and retrieval-practice phases constitute two disparate contexts, and impairment of unpractised members from practised categories is attributable to their being absent from the retrieval-practice context, which is where, according to Jonker et al., participants preferentially search at the time of final test. In evidence of this account, Jonker et al. showed that even restudy practice—which is assumed by the inhibitory account to be insufficient to cause forgetting (i.e., retrieval-specificity)—can cause forgetting when a mental context change is inserted between study and restudy. The present research sought to replicate this finding while also testing the possibility that a far mental context change would cause more forgetting than a near mental context change. In Experiment 1, participants described a vacation inside the United States (near) or outside the United States (far). In Experiments 2 and 3, participants described the layout of their own home (near) or their parents’ home (far). In contrast to the predictions of the context account, however, but consistent with the predictions of the inhibitory account, none of the restudy-plus-context-change conditions resulted in significant forgetting.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting and mental imagery

In the present article, we present four experiments in which we examined whether mental imagery can initiate retrieval-induced forgetting. Participants were presented with word pairs (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or narratives (Experiment 4) and then engaged in selective mental imagery about half of the details from half of the categories. The results indicated that mental imagery can produce the same pattern of impairment as retrieval practice (Experiment 1) and postevent questioning (Experiment 4). Additionally, mental imagery-invoked, retrievalinduced forgetting was found for category cued recall (Experiments 1, 3, and 4) and cued recall (Experiment 2); it was found to dissipate across a 24-h delay, but only when there was no pre-delay test (Experiment 3). Such retrieval-induced forgetting was also found for imagining from the first-person and third-person perspectives (Experiment 4). From these findings, we suggest that the underlying retrieval processes behind mental imagery can initiate retrieval-induced forgetting. The findings are discussed in terms of inhibitory processes.     

Interference within hands: Retrieval-induced forgetting of left and right hand movements

We examined retrieval-induced forgetting of motor sequences that were categorized by the effectors (left or right hand) involved in their execution. This left–right categorization was independent from input locations or input devices. In addition, the acquired motor sequences were arbitrarily assigned to left and right. Participants learned twelve sequential joystick movements as responses to letter stimuli. Half of the sequences pertained to the left, half to the right hand. Subsequent retrieval-practice of half the items of one hand induced forgetting for the non-retrieved rest of the items of that hand in a final recall test. This finding demonstrates that the hands were used to organize the memory storage of motor sequences in a way that gave rise to later interference between commonly stored items, that is, linked to the same hand.     

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.