WHY PEOPLE FORGET

Forgetting: the loss of information over time.•People tend to remember better soon after learning it than after a long delay—over time we begin to forget.•We are often annoyned when we can not remember something, but sometimes forgetting can be useful.

Example: When we move we get a new telephone number, we need to forget the old one and learn the new one.

“ it’s 345-7765 no

wait , it’s 345- 9807”

“So what’s your new phone #?”

RATE OF FORGETTINGHERMAN EBBINGHAUS

German philosopher Herman Ebbinghaus initiated a scientific study of human memory in experiments that he began in 1879. He developed a way to measure forgetting by doing the following:•To avoid the influence of familiar material he created dozens of lists of nonsense syllables•He would learn a list by repeating the items over and over, until he could recite the list w/o error.•He would note how many trials or how long it took him to learn the list.•He then tested his memory of the list after an interval ranging from 20 min. to 31 days.•He measured how much he had forgotten by the amount of time or the # of trials it took him to relearn the list.

ResultsBy conducting this experiment with many lists, he found that the rate of forgetting was relatively consistent.Forgetting occurred rapidly at first and then seemed to level off. Rapid rate of

forgetting

Levels off

Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve illustrates the loss of information from long-term memory.

Decay Theory•Oldest idea about forgetting•Memory traces are formed in the brain when we learn information, and they gradually disintegrate over time.

Problems with the Decay Theory1. Does not provide an explanation for

forgetting, but merely a description.2. The phenomenon of reminiscence; the

fact that sometimes memories actually recover over time.

3. Many researches today have replaced the decay theory with the Interference Theory of Forgetting.

Interference Theory of ForgettingAccording to many psychologist, forgetting occurs because of interference from other information or

activities over time.Two types of Interference:

•Proactive interference: occurs when prior learning or experiences interferes with our ability to recall new information.

Example: the fact that you took French last year interferes with you learning Spanish this year.

•Retroactive interference: occurs when new information interferes with our ability to recall old information or experiences.

Example: try remembering what you had for lunch five days ago, the lunches you had in the intervening days will probably interfere with your ability to remember

try to remember this mnemonic device: P.O.R.N.P(stands for proactive) O ( old interferes with new)R(stands for retroactive N (new interferes with old

RepressionRefers to the forgetting of an unpleasant event or piece of information due to its

threatening quality.•Introduced by Sigmund Freud, according to Freud people banish unpleasant events into their unconscious mind.

Examples: forgetting a dentist appointment or being sexually abused as a child.

Encoding Failure Theory Not encoding or paying attention to

details Can you identify the real penny?

Retrieval Failure TheoryMemories stored in Long term memory aren’t

forgotten. They are just momentarily inaccessible as a result of things like

interference, faulty cues or emotional state.

One of the most common is the: Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon