Download Key Knowledge 3

FORGETTING
Year 12 Psychology Unit 3
Area of Study 2
(Chapter 7, Page 361)
Forgetting
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The inability to retrieve previously stored info.
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Information unavailable to you at the time you are
trying to remember it.
Information may still be stored in memory, but there
is an issue with retrieval.
Forgetting is has an adaptive purpose (it’s actually
useful!):
If we didn’t forget, our mind would be cluttered.
 Clutter would make it much harder to retrieve info.
 Retrieval would take a lot longer.
 Would recall not only the things you wanted to, but all
the other things too (whether we wanted to or not).
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FORGETTING:
THE FORGETTING CURVE
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Shows the pattern – rate (speed) and amount – of
forgetting that occurs over time.
Discovered by Herman Ebbinghaus (1885):
Learned a series of lists containing 13 three-letter nonsense
syllables (e.g. ‘nus’ - no specific meanings or personal associations)
until he could recite them all without error twice in a row.
 Tested his recall for each list after specific periods of time.
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Forgetting is rapid soon after the original learning, then
the rate gradually declines (levels out), followed by stability
in the memories that remain.
THE FORGETTING CURVE
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FORGETTING:
Activity: 7.1
THE FORGETTING CURVE
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More than half of memory loss occurs within the first hour
after learning.
Virtually all forgotten information (approx. 65%) is lost in
the first eight hours.
Information that isn’t quickly forgotten appears to be
retained in memory over a long period of time.
More meaningful the information is retained for longer.
Amount & rate of forgetting are also influenced by how well
info is initially encoded (better learning = longer retention).
If well learned, difficulty of info & ability of learner do not
effect rate of retention.
Slow & fast learners forget at same rate.
FORGETTING:
THE FORGETTING CURVE
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Later research using many different kinds of information
(not just nonsense syllables) supports Ebbinghaus’ initial
findings and his Forgetting Curve.
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In all cases, rate of forgetting is rapid at the start, then eventually
slows down until a point where further forgetting is barely
noticeable.
BUT when info is learned over a longer period of time (e.g.
over weeks instead of in an hour) more info is retained,
even though it is still forgotten at the same rate.
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Rate (speed) of forgetting remains the same, but the amount of
information that is forgotten is less.
THE FORGETTING CURVE – EXTENDED LEARNING TIME
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THEORIES OF FORGETTING
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Forgetting may occur because:
 The right retrieval cue or prompt is not used;
 There is interference from competing material;
 There is some underlying motivation not to
remember;
 Memory fades through disuse over time.
No single theory alone is able to explain all
instances of forgetting.
THEORIES OF FORGETTING:
RETRIEVAL FAILURE THEORY
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Lack/fail to use correct cues to retrieve stored info
(also known as cue-dependent forgetting).
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Retrieval cue: any stimulus that assists the process of
locating and recovering info. Acts as a prompt or hint
that guides the search and recovery process.
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E.g. A question, a smell, an image, a situation, etc.
Suggests memories stored in LTM aren’t forgotten,
but temporarily inaccessible or unavailable
because of an inappropriate or faulty cue.
Common example: ‘mental blank’. Unable to recall something when
you need to (e.g. during an exam or an interview), only to suddenly
remember/recall that information at a later time.
THEORIES OF FORGETTING:
RETRIEVAL FAILURE THEORY
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Activity: 7.8
Tip-Of-The-Tongue Phenomenon:
The feeling of being aware of knowing something,
being confident you will remember, but not being able
to retrieve it at that point in time.
 Suggests partial retrieval process: Even though you
may remember semi-cues (e.g. what letter a word
starts with), you can’t quite retrieve the specific
information that you need.
 Reinforces argument that LTM is stored in an
organised way & in a variety of forms (need correct
retrieval cue; relevant information triggers more).
 Proves that retrieving is not ‘all-or-nothing’ process.
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THEORIES OF FORGETTING:
INTERFERENCE THEORY
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Activity: 7.9
Forgetting occurs because other memories
interfere with the retrieval.
Interference is more likely if learning similar info, all
at around the same time.
 The more similar the info (being learned & already in
your memory), the more likely interference will occur.
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Retroactive Interference: new info interferes with
the ability to remember old info.
 Proactive Interference: old info interferes with
ability to remember new info.
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INTERFERENCE
OF
SIMILAR INFORMATION
Retroactive
Proactive
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THEORIES OF FORGETTING:
MOTIVATED FORGETTING
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Forgetting that arises from a strong motive or
desire to forget, usually because the memory is too
upsetting.
Repression: unconscious process where memory is
blocked from entering conscious awareness.
Form of self-protection (defence mechanism).
 Avoids unpleasant thoughts & feelings associated with the
experience.
 Freud: Info is not lost… simply not accessible. May surface in
dreams, Freudian slips or after related emotion (e.g. attached
to negative trauma) is ‘diffused’ (e.g. through hypnosis, guiding
the person through the process of addressing the memory).
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THEORIES OF FORGETTING:
MOTIVATED FORGETTING
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Suppression: deliberate, conscious effort to keep
info out of conscious awareness.
Person remains aware of the experience, but consciously
chooses not to think about it.
 The goal is to put it out of our mind.
 fMRI research highlights that if people don’t want to think
about something and they actively try not to think about it,
they are less likely to remember it. High activity in frontal
cortical lobes suggests that they are mainly involved in
suppression of memories.
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Motivational needs can also change tone & content of memories:
 May reconstruct bad memories to be more pleasant (the way
we want them to be);
 Anxiety may overwhelm until information feels ‘blocked’.
THEORIES OF FORGETTING:
DECAY THEORY
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Activity: 7.13
Forgetting occurs because a memory trace or
‘engram’ fades through disuse (decays over time).
Earliest theory.
 Explains forgetting in physiological terms.
 Most commonly believed theory.
 Gradual deactivation of neural pathways (believed to be
involved in consolidation of memory).
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Does not appear that decay is simply due to the passage
of time and the associated decay of memory traces.
Rather, other factors (e.g. interference, poor retrieval
cues) make memories difficult to retrieve.