Forgetting
Forgetting
The loss of information or the inability
to access previously encoded
information within memory
Can be seen as beneficial as it gets
rid of outdated useless information
Can occur at any stage of memory
The Forgetting Curve
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850- 1909)
Used nonsense syllables in his
research
When one memorises meaningless
information, forgetting is initially rapid
and then slows gradually over time
More than half of the memory loss
occurs within the first hour after
learning
Material that is of interest to the
individual is forgotten at a slower rate
50% of info. is lost within the first hour
If the learning that took place initially was
strong then forgetting is not as quick
Things that have little effect on the rate
of forgetting are complexity of material
and intellectual ability of people.
Forgetting may occur because:
The right retrieval cue or prompt is not
used
There is interference from competing
material
There is some underlying motivation
to not remember
Memory fades through disuse over
time
Theories of Forgetting
Pseudo forgetting – information was
never properly stored
Displacement – information being
held in STM can be pushed out by
newly arriving information
Encoding Failure – means that
information fails to enter LTM, also if
consolidation is disrupted
Retrieval Failure (Cue-dependent forgetting)
Inability to retrieve previously stored
information
Occurs when one is unable to access
information from LTM, even when certain
they know it
Not permanent
Information can be retrieved with correct
cues
Insufficient / inappropriate retrieval cues
Retrieval cues can be internal (mental
reminders), or external (questions, sights,
sounds)
Tip of the tongue phenomenon
Occurs when an individual is confident
they know something, but are not quite
able to access it from memory at that point
in time
The individual may be able to describe
characteristics of the item (first letter,
length, what it looks like)
Suggests that
The right cue was not available
Different aspects of a particular item are
stored in different places in memory
sounds, spelling, meaning
Trace-Dependent Theories of
Forgetting
Explanations of forgetting that refer to
physical alterations to memory traces in
CNS
Interference Theory: Interference form
other traces
Motivated Forgetting: The nature of the
trace changes
Decay Theory: Memory traces change
over time
INTERFERENCE THEORY
Some material may disrupt the retrieval of
other information
Forgetting results from competing
associations between different concepts
stored in LTM
Proactive interference
Occurs when previously stored
information interferes with the ability to
remember similar, more recently learned
materials
Retroactive interference
Occurs when newly learnt information
interferes with the ability to remember
similar material stored previously
Explanations
May be due to overwriting
Response competition – new traces
make it harder to find older traces
MOTIVATED FORGETTING /
REPRESSION
Based on Freud’s observation that
individuals employ the mental
defence mechanism of repression to
unconsciously block out painful or
unpleasant memories
Psychogenic amnesia
Involves the partial or complete loss
of memory (due to non-organic
causes) for threatening information or
traumatic experiences
Suppression – the process by which a
person consciously tries to forget
unacceptable or painful information by
pushing it out of their consciousness
Pseudo memories – are false
memories that may result when
accurate information is combined with
fantasies and possibly suggested
thoughts given during therapy
(Especially hypnosis)
DECAY THEORY
Memory traces that store data within
the brain fade or disintegrate over
time unless they are reactivated by
occasional use (repetition or
rehearsal or reactivation)
Fails to explain why some
information, particularly from
procedural memory is not forgotten