Week 10 Forgetting

Question 1

How is forgetting a ‘virtue’ of memory?

Answer 1

• forgetting is not neccessarily bad
• no need to remember everythin
• Helps with efficiency and generalization of information
  
  • Gives the ability to abstract from instances to create schema of what typically happens

Question 2

What are some functions of forgetting as a ‘sin’ of memory?

Answer 2

• Absentmindedness - encoding failure
  
  • If you don’t pay attention you don’t encode
• Transients-decay
  
  • memories forgotten with passage of time
• blocking - interference
  
  • other memories get in the way

Question 3

Who was one of the first memory researchers?

Answer 3

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Question 4

What did Ebbinghaus study?

Answer 4

Studied memory with minimal influence from prior learning as would happen if used actual words so he created over 2000 nonsense syllables meaningless letter combinations and measured memory by using a method called relearning and computing a savings percentage over a period of minutes to hours to days

• Overtime he would forget the nonsensical words suggesting that we quickly forget most of what we learned

Question 5

describe the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.

Answer 5

The first time we learned some thing we forget it rapidly reviewing that information leads to peek in memory again and the rate at which we forget also slows down so rehearsing and retrieval practice could prevent a decay

Question 6

What was Ebbinghaus overall theory?

Answer 6

Theory of decay

• memory traces fade away with time
• If memories aren’t used overtime they decay

Question 7

What is a problem with decay theory?

Answer 7

It does not go over the mechanism that causes decay?

Question 8

What is interference theory

Answer 8

• We forget information because other items in long-term memory impair our ability to retrieve it
• Maybe some sort of distraction in how people spent that time that causes the decay overtime.

Question 9

How might sleep manipulate forgetting?

Answer 9

Sleep supports memory consolidation which is stabilization of new fresh memory to a stable state

• A way of removing interference

Question 10

What are two types of interference?

Answer 10

• Proactive interference
• Retroactive interference

Question 11

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 11

New memories interfere with old memories

Question 12

What is proactive interference?

Answer 12

Old memories interfere with new memories.

Question 13

What is retrieval induced forgetting?

Answer 13

Retrieval is selective So to recall some information other information needs to be inhibited

• Ex. Trying to remember a friend’s new address by suppressing the old address

Question 14

What is motivated forgetting?

Answer 14

Intentional goal directed process of forgetting

• People do have some control over their memories
• Directed forgetting paradigm