Forgetting

Forgetting:

 

 

3 main reasons for forgetting:

1. Diverted Attention:

 

e.g. not remembering where you put your car keys because you were thinking of something else at the time.

e.g. being distracted while trying to read a book. Don't remember what you've read.

 

e.g. Which image is actually a penny?

 

 

 

2. Decay:

 

 

Ebbinghaus (1885) studies on forgetting:

Method: he learned lists of nonsense syllables (TPQ, VEH) until he could recall them perfectly. Then he tested how much of the list he forgot over time.

Results:

 

 

 

 

3. Interference:

 

 

 

 

 

e.g. learning Spanish now makes it more difficult to remember the French you learned earlier.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Jenkins & Dallenbach (1924)

Method: students learn a list of nonsense syllables, which they had to recall 8 hours later.

  • 1st group was awake doing other things for the 8 hours

  • 2nd group was asleep for the 8 hours.

Results:

 

 

Memory Distortions:

 

Elizabeth Loftus: done more than 200 experiments on memory distortions

 

 

 

Loftus' classic experiment:

Method: showed students a video of a car accident

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

Conclusion:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goff & Roediger (1998) -- showed that imagining nonexistent actions and events can create false memories.

Method: Students had to imagine doing simple acts during the experiment such as breaking a toothpick or picking up a stapler.

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garry (1996)

Method: students had to imagine themselves doing some activity as a child that they had never done before (e.g. running, then tripping & falling, and cutting their hand as it went throught a window).

 

Results: