List method directed forgetting
Subtitle: a time-share rehearsal account
By: Erin D. Sheard.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 165
ISBN-13: 9780494160411
Description: Directed forgetting is the goal-oriented intentional forgetting of previously learned information; the directed forgetting effect is the poorer memory for information that we are instructed to forget (F) than for information that we are instructed to remember (R). The successful directed forgetting of F items is typically attributed to inhibition of those items, however encoding mechanisms may also contribute to list method directed forgetting effects. A series of four experiments explored the role of time-share rehearsal---the continued processing of only the R items during available rehearsal opportunities---in list method directed forgetting. In Experiments 1 A-1D instructions to remember and to rehearse items were varied and time-share rehearsal patterns were evident in serial position analyses of recall. In contrast to a R cue, a F cue effectively stops rehearsal of the to-be-forgotten list one, and a new rehearsal set is initiated with list two. Subsequent differences in list two recall---the directed forgetting benefits---stem from a marked primacy effect following an F, but not R, cue. Experiment 2 extended this finding by demonstrating that when self-reported time-share rehearsal strategies are held constant directed forgetting benefits are eliminated. In Experiment 3, longer time-share rehearsal opportunities during a delay revealed that high memory individuals selectively rehearsed the items that they needed to remember. Warning participants that F items would have to be recalled after a delay resulted in time-share rehearsal of both the R and F items, reducing the directed forgetting effect; otherwise, only the R items were rehearsed and the magnitude of the effect increased relative to the standard no delay condition. In Experiment 4, direct manipulation of rehearsal opportunity during a delay corroborated the findings, and opportunities/incentives to rehearse both R and F items decreased the directed forgetting effect. Taken together, the results provide evidence that encoding processes contribute to list method directed forgetting effects. Specifically, the differential time-share rehearsal of R and F items contributes to directed forgetting effects. It is argued that theories of list method directed forgetting should be modified to include a rehearsal component.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: B, page: 4129.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

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