Is "memory-for-when" universal? Group and individual variability in temporal position memory for words, faces, and classrooms.

Many contemporary theories of memory assume that everyone automatically stores temporal contextual information about all types of encountered information, yet most studies on this topic have used words and ignored individual differences. Five experiments accumulated evidence that explicit storage of temporal context information does not appear to occur automatically for all people and types of memoranda. We collected judgments of temporal position (memory-for-when) for words (Experiments 1 & 3), faces (Experiments 2A, 3, 4, and 5), and classrooms (Experiments 2B & 3). At the group level, for each of these memoranda memory-for-when was sensitive to the original input position and showed a temporal primacy effect reflecting better memory for position for items near the beginning of the list, indicating some automatic storage of temporal context information. However, memory-for-when was significantly better for words than classrooms, with faces in the middle. Moreover, individuals varied dramatically in their ability to indicate memory-for-when, especially for classrooms where many people performed at or near chance. Taken together, the data suggest that explicit memory-for-when may be dissociable from the more implicit use of temporal contextual information that is theorised to occur during free recall.

Updating and pre-existing semantic associations: testing can enhance or impair new learning.

We often need to update what we have learned, building on older information by adding newer information. When updating, is it better to review the older information by retrieving it (testing) or restudying it? In other words, do tests result in enhanced updating or impaired updating compared to restudying? Past research has obtained divergent conclusions to this question. The present study used a paired associates updating paradigm in which participants studied a cue and the older response (A-B). They later reviewed the older response by restudying (A-B) or testing (A-?; A-B) and immediately after learned a newer response (-D) that updated the original pair into a trio (A-B-D). In eight experiments, we demonstrated that different patterns of pre-existing semantic associations between the cue, older response, and newer response resulted in all possible outcomes: test enhanced new learning, test impaired new learning, and no difference. The results were most consistent with a family of updating theories that propose the metacognitive processes that occur after reviewing determine whether testing enhances, impairs, or has no impact on new learning. The results suggest that theories should consider the impact of the newer response in updating in addition to performance on the initial test.

Item method directed forgetting occurs independently of borderline personality traits, even for borderline-salient items.

Clinical populations sometimes demonstrate difficulties forgetting stimuli related to their trauma-related disorder, perhaps because their intense personal connection to these stimuli produce deficits in the inhibitory control abilities necessary for forgetting. The present work examined this possibility for people who have high levels of traits implicated in borderline personality disorder (BPD). In two well-powered studies, we found no evidence for deficits in forgetting specific to BPD traits, even for people with clinically significant levels of the traits, contrary to previous studies. The present experiments updated the designs from earlier experiments to employ the most contemporary methods to examine directed forgetting recommended by recent reviews. With these improved methods, Study 1 found that participants showed significant directed forgetting for BPD-related words independent of their level of BPD traits, perhaps because the BPD-related words were so strongly associated with one another. Study 2 found that when we removed the strong relatedness between the stimuli, forgetting of BPD-relevant words was significant and did not interact with BPD symptomology. We concluded that in contrast to people with PTSD who show specific inhibitory deficits for trauma-related works, people with BPD show normal, intact inhibitory control even for words that they should find threatening.

Reminders can enhance or impair episodic memory updating: a memory-for-change perspective.

The Memory-for-Change framework proposes that retrieving episodic memories can facilitate new learning when changes between existing memories and new information are integrated during encoding and later recollected. Four experiments examined whether reminders could improve memory updating and enhance new learning. Participants studied two study lists of word pairs and were given a cued recall test on responses from both lists. Reminders of List 1 words pairs (A-B) appeared immediately before List 2 words pairs that included repeated cues and changed responses (A-D). Across experiments, we varied the types of reminders to determine whether differences in their effectiveness as retrieval cues would influence memory for the list membership of responses. We found that presenting intact reminders (cue-response) enhanced the memory benefits associated with recollection-based retrieval of changes relative to when no reminders appeared and when partial reminders (cue-only) appeared with and without feedback. Importantly, cue-response reminders benefitted memory when they were recognised in List 2 and when changes were later recollected. This suggests that integrative encoding can be facilitated when substantial environmental support is available to cue retrieval of existing memories. These findings have practical implications for understanding which reminders best aid the correction of memories for inaccurate information.

Working memory capacity and the spacing effect in cued recall.

Spacing repetitions typically improves memory (the spacing effect). In three cued recall experiments, we explored the relationship between working memory capacity and the spacing effect. People with higher working memory capacity are more accurate on memory tasks that require retrieval relative to people with lower working memory capacity. The experiments used different retention intervals and lags between repetitions, but were otherwise similar. Working memory capacity and spacing of repetitions both improved memory in most of conditions, but they did not interact, suggesting additive effects. The results are consistent with the ACT-R model's predictions, and with a study-phase recognition process underpinning the spacing effect in cued recall.

The spacing effect in immediate and delayed free recall.

Spacing repetitions improves learning relative to massing repetitions (the spacing effect). While most studies have examined the spacing effect at short retention intervals, there are contradictory claims about its fate at a delay. Certain empirical findings suggest that the spacing effect persists at a delay. However, a recent theoretical account proposes that in free recall the spacing effect should disappear at a delay. The few studies that have examined the spacing effect at a delay are sub-optimally designed, preventing an unbiased conclusion. The current study used incidental learning and controlled recency and encoding strategy in order to examine the effect of delay on the recall of spaced items within a free recall paradigm. The results demonstrated that the spacing effect persists after a delay. The results point to an important dissociation between intentional forgetting and context-change designs (which produce more forgetting of spaced than massed items) and the passage of time (which produces similar forgetting of spaced and massed items).

People sometimes remember to forget: Strategic retrieval from the list before last enables directed forgetting of the most recent information.

List-method directed forgetting usually involves asking people to study a list, followed by a cue to forget it, and then studying a second list. Prior work suggests that List 2 encoding is necessary for directed forgetting to occur, but recent studies have found that moving the forget cue from List 1 to List 2 allows people to selectively forget List 2. These results were attributed to an inhibitory mechanism. In four experiments, we aimed to replicate these findings and provide an alternative explanation based on the list-before-the-last paradigm. We propose that in the forget condition, participants may strategically retrieve List 1 in response to the forget cue, contributing to selective forgetting. Previous research suggests that explicit retrieval of earlier-leaned information causes a contextual shift, resulting in forgetting of target information. Verbal reports from Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that participants often covertly select a retrieval strategy to forget the most recent list. In Experiment 3, explicit instructions to retrieve resulted in significant forgetting. Directly manipulating forgetting strategy between participants in Experiment 4 suggested that retrieval may be one of several effective mechanisms to forget recently-encountered information. In the retrieval conditions, the data support our claim that in the absence of explicit postcue encoding, people can strategically retrieve earlier-learned information to forget. This novel forgetting mechanism is probably also used outside of the laboratory to "roll back" memory for incorrect information. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A deeper analysis of the spacing effect after "deep" encoding.

The most common encoding strategies used by participants in word list studies include rehearsal and using the story mnemonic. Previous studies have suggested that with a rote-rehearsal strategy, mixed lists lead people to borrow rehearsal time from massed items and to give it to spaced items. Using rehearse-aloud methodologies, we demonstrated in Experiment 1 that the borrowing effect does not occur in the story mnemonic. However, the rates of rehearsal of individual items provided a good prediction of their subsequent recall rates, with spaced items being rehearsed more often in both mixed and pure lists. In experiment 2, we demonstrated that creating "story links" between items enhanced recall, but it did not affect the magnitude of the spacing effect. These results suggest that a massed-item deficit in encoding may underlie the spacing effect in the story mnemonic.

Remembering to forget: the amnesic effect of daydreaming.

Daydreaming mentally transports people to another place or time. Many daydreams are similar in content to the thoughts that people generate when they intentionally try to forget. Thus, thoughts like those generated during daydreaming can cause forgetting of previously encoded events. We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis that daydreams that are more different from the current moment (e.g., in distance, time, or circumstance) will result in more forgetting than daydreams that are less different from the current moment, because they result in a greater contextual shift. Daydreaming was simulated in the laboratory via instructions to engage in a diversionary thought. Participants learned a list of words, were asked to think about autobiographical memories, and then learned a second list of words. They tended to forget more words from the first list when they thought about their parents' home than when they thought about their current home (Experiment 1). They also tended to forget more when they thought about an international vacation than when they thought about a domestic vacation (Experiment 2). These results support a context-change account of the amnesic effects of daydreaming.

What can directed forgetting tell us about clinical populations?

This paper reviews and critically assesses the implications of directed forgetting (DF) research on clinical populations. We begin by reviewing the typical methods and results of the item method and list method directed forgetting procedures and provide best practice recommendations for future studies using clinical populations. Next, we note that DF was often interpreted as being due to inhibition, and when clinical populations showed impaired directed forgetting, it was treated as evidence in inhibitory control difficulties. However, inhibition may not be the cause of DF effects, based on current understanding of these cognitive tasks. We instead suggest that item method DF is tied to attentional control, which might include inhibitory mechanisms (or might not). In contrast, list method DF is tied to two forms of memory control: control of mental context (indicated by effective forgetting of List 1), and changes in the strategies used to remember (indicated by better learning of List 2). We review the current state of the clinical DF literature, assess its strength based on our best practice recommendations, and call for more research when warranted.

Rehearsal strategies can enlarge or diminish the spacing effect: pure versus mixed lists and encoding strategy.

Using 5 experiments, the authors explored the dependency of spacing effects on rehearsal patterns. Encouraging rehearsal borrowing produced opposing effects on mixed lists (containing both spaced and massed repetitions) and pure lists (containing only one or the other), magnifying spacing effects on mixed lists but diminishing spacing effects on pure lists. Rehearsing with borrowing produced large spacing effects on mixed lists but not on pure lists for both free recall (Experiment 1) and recognition (Experiment 2). In contrast, rehearsing only the currently visible item produced spacing effects on both mixed lists and pure lists in free recall (Experiment 3) and recognition (Experiment 4). Experiment 5 demonstrated these effects using a fully within-subjects design. Rehearse-aloud protocols showed that rehearsal borrowing redistributed study from massed to spaced items on mixed lists, especially during massed presentations.

Oh, honey, I already forgot that: strategic control of directed forgetting in older and younger adults.

Two experiments investigated list-method directed forgetting with older and younger adults. Using standard directed forgetting instructions, significant forgetting was obtained with younger but not older adults. However, in Experiment 1 older adults showed forgetting with an experimenter-provided strategy that induced a mental context change--specifically, engaging in diversionary thought. Experiment 2 showed that age-related differences in directed forgetting occurred because older adults were less likely than younger adults to initiate a strategy to attempt to forget. When the instructions were revised to downplay their concerns about memory, older adults engaged in effective forgetting strategies and showed significant directed forgetting comparable in magnitude to younger adults. The results highlight the importance of strategic processes in directed forgetting.

Intentional forgetting is easier after two "shots" than one.

Three experiments evaluated whether the magnitude of the list-method directed forgetting effect is strength dependent. Throughout these studies, items were strengthened via operations thought to increase context strength (spaced presentations) or manipulations thought to increment the item strength without affecting the context strength (processing time and processing depth). The assumptions regarding which operations enhance item and context strength were based on the "one-shot" hypothesis of context storage (K. J. Malmberg & R. M. Shiffrin, 2005). The results revealed greater directed forgetting of strong items compared with weak items, but only when strength was varied via spaced presentations (Experiment 3). Equivalent directed forgetting was observed for strong and weak items when strengthening operations increased item strength without affecting the context strength (Experiments 1 and 2). These results supported the context hypothesis of directed forgetting (L. Sahakyan & C. M. Kelley, 2002).

Long-term working memory and transient storage in reading comprehension: What is the evidence? Comment on Foroughi, Werner, Barragán, and Boehm-Davis (2015).

In a recent article, Foroughi, Werner, Barragán, and Boehm-Davis (2015) demonstrated that interspersing interruptions between paragraphs during reading sometimes reduces accuracy on comprehension questions. We propose an account of their findings within long-term working memory (LTWM) theory. Our account proposes that interruptions interfere with the accessibility of the generated encodings of the text in long-term memory (LTM) and that unimpaired continued comprehension requires restoration of access to these memory encodings during the resumption of reading after the interruptions. It is consistent with the accuracy of question answering being substantially preserved in their study, which is seemingly inconsistent with their transient storage account. This theoretical controversy does not diminish the importance of Foroughi et al.'s results: We agree that additional research is needed to understand when and how interruptions impact various aspects of comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record

Lasting reductions in illegal moves following an increase in their cost: evidence from river-crossing problems.

The authors present 3 experiments demonstrating ways to reduce illegal moves in problem-solving tasks. They propose a 3-stage framework for the rejection of illegal moves. An illegal move must come to mind and be selected, checked for legality, and correctly rejected. Illegal move reduction can occur at any stage. Control group participants benefited from solving the same problem twice but failed to show transfer to an isomorph, replicating results from S. K. Reed, G. W. Ernst, and R. Banerji (1974). Participants who were penalized for making illegal moves showed reductions in illegal moves even when solving a novel isomorph without penalty. The authors propose that illegal move reduction occurs when solvers are cautious and check moves for legality frequently.

Directed forgetting in incidental learning and recognition testing: support for a two-factor account.

Instructing people to forget a list of items often leads to better recall of subsequently studied lists (known as the benefits of directed forgetting). The authors have proposed that changes in study strategy are a central cause of the benefits (L. Sahakyan & P. F. Delaney, 2003). The authors address 2 results from the literature that are inconsistent with their strategy-based explanation: (a) the presence of benefits under incidental learning conditions and (b) the absence of benefits in recognition testing. Experiment 1 showed that incidental learning attenuated the benefits compared with intentional learning, as expected if a change of study strategy causes the benefits. Experiment 2 demonstrated benefits using recognition testing, albeit only when longer lists were used. Memory for source in directed forgetting was also explored using multinomial modeling. Results are discussed in terms of a 2-factor account of directed forgetting.

Immediate and sustained effects of planning in a problem-solving task.

In 4 experiments, instructions to plan a task (water jugs) that normally produces little planning altered how participants solved the problems and resulted in enhanced learning and memory. Experiment 1 identified planning strategies that allowed participants to plan full solutions to water jugs problems. Experiment 2 showed that experience with planning led to better solutions even after planning was no longer required, whereas control participants showed little improvement. Experiments 3 and 4 showed that although the most recent planned solution could be recalled following a long filled retention interval, retroactive interference (RI) between successive problems resulted in much lower recall of earlier solutions. RI during plan generation could also explain participants' choice of depth-first planning strategies.

Self-evaluation as a moderating factor of strategy change in directed forgetting benefits.

In list method directed forgetting, instructing people to forget a studied word list usually results in better recall for a newly studied list. Sahakyan and Delaney (2003) have suggested that these benefits are due to a change in encoding strategy that occurs between the study of the first list and the study of the second list. To investigate what might mediate such strategy change decisions, in two experiments we induced both forget and remember participants to evaluate their memory performance on the two lists. In Experiment 1, they were asked to explicitly recall the items from the first list before studying the second list. In Experiment 2, after the study of the first list, the participants provided a rapid aggregate judgment of learning. Evaluation eliminated the differences between the forget and remember groups for the second list in both experiments, because the remember group achieved recall levels comparable to those for the forget group. The role of performance evaluation in mediating directed forgetting benefits is discussed.

Optimizing learning of scientific category knowledge in the classroom: the case of plant identification.

Learning to identify organisms is extraordinarily difficult, yet trained field biologists can quickly and easily identify organisms at a glance. They do this without recourse to the use of traditional characters or identification devices. Achieving this type of recognition accuracy is a goal of many courses in plant systematics. Teaching plant identification is difficult because of variability in the plants' appearance, the difficulty of bringing them into the classroom, and the difficulty of taking students into the field. To solve these problems, we developed and tested a cognitive psychology-based computer program to teach plant identification. The program incorporates presentation of plant images in a homework-based, active-learning format that was developed to stimulate expert-level visual recognition. A controlled experimental test using a within-subject design was performed against traditional study methods in the context of a college course in plant systematics. Use of the program resulted in an 8-25% statistically significant improvement in final exam scores, depending on the type of identification question used (living plants, photographs, written descriptions). The software demonstrates how the use of routines to train perceptual expertise, interleaved examples, spaced repetition, and retrieval practice can be used to train identification of complex and highly variable objects.

Item-specific encoding produces an additional benefit of directed forgetting: evidence from intrusion errors.

List-method directed forgetting involves encoding 2 lists, between which half of the participants are told to forget List 1. When participants are free to study however they want, directed forgetting impairs List 1 recall and enhances List 2 recall in the forget group compared with a control remember group. In a large-scale experiment, the current work demonstrated that when item-specific encoding instructions were enforced during learning, directed forgetting impaired List 1 recall, but it did not enhance List 2 recall. This pattern was found regardless of whether encoding was incidental or intentional. Whenever directed forgetting did not enhance List 2 recall, it nevertheless reduced cross-list intrusions. These results indicate that directed forgetting can help differentiate memories from one another, thereby reducing intrusions from irrelevant competing memories.