12.7.15
Forgetting
 Forgetting: an inability to
retrieve information due to poor
encoding, storage, or retrieval.
3
 We cannot remember what we do
not encode.
o Because the info never enters
long-term storage
4
5
 Ebbinghaus showed the idea that
much of what we learn we quickly
forget with his forgetting curve.
 The course of forgetting is initially
rapid, then levels off with time.
6
Bahrick (1984) showed a similar pattern
of forgetting and retaining over 50 years.
oPeople who had been out of school for 3
years had forgotten much of what they had
learned, but after 3 years, their forgetting
leveled off
7
Although the information is retained
in the memory store, it cannot be
accessed.
Tip-of-the-tongue is a retrieval
failure phenomenon. Given a cue
(What makes blood cells red?) the
subject says the word begins with an
H (hemoglobin).
8
 Learning new information may
disrupt retrieval of other
information.
 2 Types
 Proactive Interference
 Retroactive Interference
9
 The disruptive effect of prior learning
on the recall of new info
10
 The disruptive effect of new learning
on the recall of old information
11
 Sleep prevents retroactive interference. Therefore, it
leads to better recall.
12
Motivated Forgetting:
People unknowingly
revise their memories.
Culver Pictures
Repression: A defense
mechanism that banishes
anxiety-arousing
thoughts, feelings, and
memories from
consciousness.
Sigmund Freud
13
 Forgetting can
occur at any
memory stage.
We filter, alter,
or lose much
information
during these
stages.
14

Episode 14: Remembering &
Forgetting