Suppression-induced forgetting on a free-association test

The repeated suppression of thoughts in response to cues for their expression leads to forgetting on a subsequent test of cued recall (Anderson & Green, 2001). We extended this effect by using homograph cues and presenting them for free association following suppression practice. Cue-target pairs were first learned under integrating imagery instructions; then in the think/no-think phase students practised suppressing thoughts connected to some homograph cues, with or without the assistance of thought substitutes that changed their meaning. Below-baseline forgetting on the subsequent free-association test was found in the production of suppressed targets. Following aided suppression this effect was also obtained in the production of other responses denoting the target-related meaning of the homograph cues. Discussion emphasises the ecological value of the test; rarely do people deliberately attempt recall of unwanted thoughts.     

Intentional forgetting benefits from thought substitution

This study provides both experimental and correlational evidence that forgetting in the think/no-think paradigm (Anderson & Green, 2001) is sensitive to the substitution of thoughts about new events for thoughts that are to be suppressed. All the participants learned a list of adjective-noun pairs. Then the adjectives were presented as cues for recalling half of the nouns and as cues for suppressing the other half, 0, 2, or 12 times.Aided participants were provided with substitute nouns, to use during suppression. On a final test that requested recall of all initially learned nouns, aided participants showed evidence of below-baseline forgetting of suppressed nouns.Unaided participants produced below-baseline forgetting only if their later self-reports indicated that they had complied relatively well with instructions for suppression. Independently, forgetting in the unaided condition was more successful when the participants reportedly thought about something else during suppression trials. In general, the use of selfinitiated strategiesseems to affect the degree of forgetting in the think/no-think paradigm.     

The generation effect with homographs: Evidence for postgeneration processing

The generation effect is the phenomenon in which words are remembered better when generated than when read. These experiments test the possibility that at least one consequence of generating is enhanced semantic processing. Homographs were used as targets, presented with rhymes in Experiment 1 so as not to bias meaning, and with synonyms in Experiment 2 to bias one meaning of each homograph. In beth experiments, extralist synonym cues were provided at recall. In Experiment 1 a generation effect was obtained when the retrieval cues biased the dominant meaning of the homograph (determined from free association norms), whereas in Experiment 2 a generation effect was found when the retrieval cues biased the same meaning that was biased during study. In neither experiment was a generation effect obtained with retrieval cues that biased the other meaning of each homograph. These results indicate that the generation effect is dependent upon the compatibility of the semantic processing conducted at study and test. Since it is impossible to process the meaning of a homograph when generating it from a rhyme cue, the meaning of the homograph could only have been processed after the word had been generated. The finding in Experiment 1 that a generation effect was obtained with rhymes when semantic retrieval cues were provided demonstrates that the enhancement properties associated with generation are not restricted to the information used to guide the generation process. This finding also indicates that one locus of the generation effect is in the processing that occurs after the word has been generated.     

Active suppression in the mediotemporal lobe during directed forgetting

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether forgetting is merely a passive process or whether it can also be caused by active suppression of memory contents.We investigated effects of directed forgetting by intracranial event-related potentials (ERPs) in 12 patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. In a single-item directed forgetting paradigm, the patients were presented with words either followed by the instruction that this word has to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF). All patients were implanted with multicontact depth electrodes along the rhinal cortex and hippocampus as part of their presurgical evaluation.Patients recognized significantly less TBF than TBR words in a subsequent recognition test. In the hippocampus, TBF cues that caused subsequent forgetting were associated with decreased negative ERPs. In the rhinal cortex, TBF cues elicited a generally prolonged positivity, as compared to TBR cues.We interpret the decreased hippocampal ERPs following the TBF cues as an indication for an active suppression of hippocampal functions. The increased rhinal activity in response to the TBF cue might indicate an active involvement of this structure in the suppression of hippocampal memory formation.     

A limit on retrieval-induced forgetting

Retrieving some members of a memory set impairs later recall of semantically related but not unrelated members (M. C. Anderson, R. A. Bjork, & E. L. Bjork, 1994; M. C. Anderson & B. A. Spellman, 1995). The authors investigated whether this retrieval-induced forgetting effect would generalize to testing procedures other than category-cued recall. Although the authors demonstrated a retrieval-induced forgetting effect using a category-cued recall task, they failed to show retrieval-induced forgetting on several different memory tests that used item-specific cues, including a category-plus-stem-cued recall test, a category-plus-fragment-cued recall test, a fragment-cued recall test, and a fragment completion task.     

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.     

Effects of post‐cue interval on intentional forgetting

This study examined the effect of post‐cue interval on directed forgetting and suppression. Experiments 1 and 2 used the item method of directed forgetting. The interval between the cue to remember/forget (R/F) and the presence of the next item was manipulated. As the post‐cue interval increased, the rates of hits and ‘remember’ responses on the recognition test also increased not only for R items but also for F items, suggesting that participants did not stop processing F items after the F cue. Experiment 3 manipulated both the number of response/suppression attempts and the duration of response/suppression for each word pair during the response/suppression phase. The results showed that increasing the number of suppression attempts led to worse recall in the subsequent memory test. However, increasing the duration of suppression reduced the suppression effect. These results provide insights into a key factor for successful intentional forgetting and suppression.     

Triggering memory recovery: Effects of direct and incidental cuing

The present study examined forgetting and recovery of narrative passages varying in emotional intensity, using what we refer to as the “dropout” method. Previous studies of this dropout procedure have used word lists as to-be-remembered material, but the present experiments used brief story vignettes with one-word titles (e.g., “Torture”, “Insects”). These vignettes showed a strong dropout forgetting effect in free recall. Both text and picture cues from the vignettes eliminated the forgetting effect on a subsequent cued recall test. Vignette-related pictures in an incidental picture naming task, however, triggered little recovery of initially forgotten vignettes, as shown on a post-test. The results extend findings of large forgetting and memory recovery effects to materials that are more naturalistic than word lists. The findings also show that picture cues, which trigger strong memory recovery effects on a direct test of memory, had little effect on recovery when cues were encountered incidentally.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting in implicit memory tests: The role of test awareness

Retrieval practice with particular items in memory may result in decreased recall of different, semantically related, items. This retrieval-induced forgetting effect has been demonstrated in studies using explicit memory tests. Anderson and Spellman (1995) have attributed retrieval-induced forgetting to inhibitory mechanisms. This hypothesis predicts similar effects in implicit memory tasks. In our first experiment, using Anderson and Spellman’s original paradigm, retrieval-induced forgetting was found using an explicit memory test with independent extralist retrieval cues. In our second experiment, using the same materials, retrieval-induced forgetting was also found using an implicit memory test with independent extralist retrieval cues, but only for participants who were aware of the relationship between the study and practice phase on the one hand, and the test phase of the experiment on the other. Thus, test awareness seems to mediate retrieval-induced forgetting in implicit memory tasks.     

Remembering remembering

We developed a laboratory analogue of the "forgot-it-all-along" effect that J. W. Schooler, M. Bendiksen, and Z. Ambadar (1997) proposed for cases of "recovered memories" in which individuals had forgotten episodes of talking about the abuse when they were supposedly amnestic for it. In Experiment 1, participants studied homographs with disambiguating context words; in Test 1 they received studied- or other-context words as cues; and in Test 2 they received studied-context cues and judged whether they had recalled each item during Test 1. In Experiment 2, retrieval cues were manipulated on both tests. In Experiment 3, both the studied- and other-context cues corresponded to the same meaning of each homograph. In Experiment 4, Test 1 was free recall, and studied- versus other-context cues were presented in Test 2. Participants more often forgot that they had previously recalled an item if they were cued to think of it differently on the two tests.     

Are we aware of our ability to forget? Metacognitive predictions of directed forgetting

It is often important to accurately predict not only what information we will later remember, but also what information we are likely to forget. The present research examined these abilities in the context of item-method directed forgetting, to determine whether people are aware of their strategic control of remembering and forgetting, as well as what cues are used when making metacognitive judgments. Participants studied words, each of which was followed by a cue to remember (R) or forget (F) the word for an upcoming test, and also made predictions of how likely they would be to later recall each word. When asked to recall all of the words, regardless of cue, both recall and predicted recall were fairly sensitive to the R or F instructions, despite some overconfidence. A similar and stronger pattern was found when words were assigned positive or negative point values as cues to remember or forget. These findings suggest that item-based cues to remember or forget information can be successfully utilized when making metacognitive judgments, and that people are fairly aware of the control they have over both remembering and forgetting information.     

Influences of part-list cuing on different forms of episodic forgetting

Across 3 experiments, we examined the interplay of part-list cuing and forgetting, employing 3 different methods to induce episodic forgetting-list--method directed forgetting, context-dependent forgetting, and proactive interference. For each form of forgetting, participants were asked at test to recall the target items of a previously studied list in the presence or the absence of the list's remaining items serving as retrieval cues. We found such part-list cuing to amplify the forgetting in proactive interference but to diminish the forgetting in list-method directed forgetting and context-dependent forgetting. These results show that the effects of part-list cuing on forgotten memories depend critically on the circumstances surrounding the forgetting. If the forgetting reflects impaired access to the original encoding context, as has been suggested in list-method directed forgetting and context-dependent forgetting (but not in proactive interference), part-list cues improve access to forgotten memories; if the forgetting does not reflect such a contextual effect, no such beneficial effects emerge, and access to forgotten memories may even be impaired.     

To think or not to think,that is the question: Individual differences in suppression and rebound effects in autobiographical memory

Two studies explored the effects of forget instructions on autobiographical memory at immediate test and following delays of either 12–13 months, or 3–4 months. Using the Autobiographical Think/No-Think procedure (cf., Noreen & MacLeod, 2013), 24 never-depressed participants (Study 1) first generated 12 positive and 12 negative autobiographical memories and associated cues. Participants were then asked to recall the memory associated with some of the cues (i.e., ‘think’ condition), or to avoid saying or thinking about the memory associated with other cues (i.e., ‘no-think’ condition). Participants were then asked to recall the memories associated with all the cues at immediate test and following a delay of 12–13 months. Participants were found to be successful at forgetting both positive and negative autobiographical memories following ‘no-think’ instructions at immediate test but this forgetting effect did not persist following a 12–13 month delay. This pattern of remembering and forgetting was replicated in a second study (using 27 never-depressed participants) following a 3–4 month delay. Participants who had been less successful at forgetting ‘no-think’ memories at immediate test, were more likely to show rebound effects for those memories following a delay compared to memories which received neither ‘think’ nor ‘no-think’ instructions. Individual differences in inhibitory control and the efficacy of potential therapeutic interventions of ‘no-think’ instructions are considered.     

The influence of distinctive processing on retrieval-induced forgetting

Recall of a portion of a previously experienced list benefits subsequent recall of that portion of the list but leads to poorer recall of nonpracticed items from the same set (Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994). One explanation for this retrieval-induced forgetting is that during practice of part of a set, the non-practiced items compete for recall and are suppressed; this suppression process inhibits later recall of the nonpracticed items. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the relationship between distinctive processing of the original set and retrieval-induced forgetting, on the assumption that distinctive processing reduces response competition. In the first experiment, distinctive processing induced by difference judgments among the studied items did reduce forgetting relative to a standard encoding task and a similarity judgment task. In fact, the difference judgment task completely eliminated retrieval-induced forgetting. In the second experiment, the similarity judgment task was analyzed in relation to a task assumed to foster associative integration (Anderson & McCulloch, 1999). Even though the similarity judgment met the requirements for associative integration, retrieval-induced forgetting persisted following similarity judgment. The results are consistent with the view that distinctive processing benefits memory within an organizational context (Hunt & McDaniel, 1993; Smith & Hunt, in press).     

Retrieval-induced forgetting in recall and recognition of thematically related and unrelated sentences

In three experiments, we assessed the effects of type of relation and memory test on retrieval-induced forgetting of facts. In Experiments 1 and 2, eight sets of four shared-subject sentences were presented for study. They were constructed so that half were thematically related and half were unrelated. A retrieval practice phase required participants to recall a subset of the studied sentences. In the final test, the participants were prompted to recall all the sentences (character cued in Experiment 1 and character plus stem cued in Experiment 2). The results showed that the retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) effect was similar for thematically related and unrelated sentences, indicating that the presence of episodic relations among the sentences was sufficient to produce the effect. In Experiment 3, a recognition task was introduced and the RIF effect emerged in accuracy as well as in latency measures. The presence of this effect with item-specific cues is difficult to accommodate for noninhibitory theories of retrieval.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting and part-list cuing in associatively structured lists

Using DRM lists (Roediger & McDermott, 1995) in two experiments, we compared the effects of retrieval practice on a subset of the items and of the presentation of those items as retrieval cues at test on recall of the lists' critical items. In Experiment 1, the critical items were part of the studied lists, thus addressing these items' veridical recall; in Experiment 2, they were not studied, thus addressing these items' false recall. Three major results emerged. First, retrieval practice and part-list cuing reduced both veridical and false recall. Second, the two manipulations induced an integration effect in veridical recall, with substantial forgetting in lists with low false recall levels and no forgetting in lists with high false recall levels. Third, retrieval practice and part-list cuing created the same effects on recall, qualitatively and quantitatively. These results suggest that the detrimental effects of retrieval practice and part-list cuing were mediated by similar mechanisms. They are consistent with the view that not only retrieval-induced forgetting, but also part-list cuing is caused by inhibitory processes.     

Interpretive cues and ambiguity in generalized anxiety disorder

The current study investigated whether generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) individuals rely on antecedent information to interpret ambiguity and whether reliance on such preceding cues persists in the absence of potential threat. Twenty-six GAD and 23 nonanxious control college students performed a lexical decision task, using homographs (i.e. words with multiple meanings) as ambiguous primes. In half the trials, a homograph prime that possessed both threat-related, as well as neutral meanings was followed by a target word related to one of these two meanings. In addition, each ambiguous prime was immediately preceded by a series of four antecedent words that were either: (a) associated with the threatening meaning of the prime; (b) associated with the neutral meaning of the prime; or (c) unrelated to either meaning of the homograph, as well as the target. Homographs for which both meanings were neutral in valence comprised the other half of the trials. Effect size statistics suggest that GAD participants utilized the antecedent words to interpret the homograph primes with threat-related meanings, unlike their nonanxious counterparts (p<0.06). When both meanings of the homograph prime were neutral in valence, the GAD group appeared deficient in the use of preceding information to interpret the ambiguous prime.     

Depressive deficits in forgetting

The aim of this study was to investigate whether difficulties in forgetting (like difficulties in remembering) are associated with depressive states. First, dysphoric and nondysphoric students learned 40 word pairs, each consisting of a positive or negative adjective and a neutral noun (target). Next, the students practiced responding with some targets and suppressing others, when given the adjective as cue, for a varied number of repetitions. On the final test, they were told to disregard the prior instruction to suppress and to recall the target associated with every cue. Compared with nondysphoric students, dysphoric students recalled similar percentages of targets from sets assigned for response practice but higher percentages from sets assigned for suppression practice. The degree of forgetting showed some mood-congruent tendencies and was significantly correlated with self-report measures of rumination and unwanted thoughts.     

The effects of “effort after meaning” on recall: Differences in within- and between-subjects designs

In four experiments, we examined free recall of ambiguous sentences with or without corresponding cues to facilitate comprehension, using Auble and Franks’s (1978) paradigm to examine effort after meaning (Bartlett, 1932). The ambiguous sentences were studied without cues, with cues meaningfully embedded in them, with cues provided shortly before the sentence (precue), or with cues following the sentence after several seconds (delayed cue). When these conditions were manipulated within subjects, the process of cue integration in the pre- and delayed-cue conditions enhanced recall, relative to the no-cue and embedded-cue conditions. Furthermore, in a test condition in which subjects first attempted to recall the cues alone, recall was also best in the delayed-cue condition. The effects described above did not occur when the cue presentation conditions varied between subjects, and on a test of order reconstruction, there was even an advantage for sentences studied in the embedded-cue condition over those studied in the delayed-cue condition. The dissociative effects of experimental design on sentence recall and order reconstruction suggest that effort after meaning might enhance memory for study items at the cost of impairing memory for temporal order information.     

延时间隔和线索类型对遗忘学习判断的影响*

主要探讨不同延时间隔和线索类型对遗忘元认知判断的影响。采用传统的学习判断任务,让被试学习40对无意义配对词,并告知随后进行测试,当呈现第一个词时,被试能够回忆与之配对的后一个词。让被试预测当延迟不同时间（5分钟、1天和1周）进行测试时,他们能够记住（学习判断）或者遗忘（遗忘判断）后一词的可能性。最后,要求被试回忆所有词对。结果发现延时间隔对学习判断和遗忘判断有相似的影响;学习判断的等级和相对准确性均高于遗忘判断,说明人们对记住和遗忘的线索很敏感;相比于学习判断,人们监测自己遗忘能力的信心不足。研究结果表明人们能够利用延时间隔和线索类型来预测未来的测验成绩,对遗忘的监测能力低于对记住的监测。