Jove
Visualize
Contact Us

Related Experiment Videos

Intentional forgetting benefits from thought substitution.

Paula T Hertel1, Gina Calcaterra

  • 1Department of Psychology, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas 78212-7200, USA. phertel@trinity.edu

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|October 21, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Forgetting in the think/no-think paradigm is reduced when participants substitute new thoughts for suppressed memories. Self-initiated strategies significantly impact memory suppression success.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Remembering change: Interdependence between change awareness and meaningful connection in achieving proactive facilitation.

Memory & cognition·2024
Same author

Stuck in the past? Rumination-related memory integration.

Behaviour research and therapy·2023
Same author

Practicing Emotionally Biased Retrieval Affects Mood and Establishes Biased Recall a Week Later.

Cognitive therapy and research·2016
Same author

Cognitive and neural consequences of memory suppression in major depressive disorder.

Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience·2016
Same author

Cognitive Bias Modification: Past Perspectives, Current Findings, and Future Applications.

Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science·2015
Same author

Distracted by cues for suppressed memories.

Psychological science·2015
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Memory Research

Background:

  • The think/no-think paradigm is a key paradigm for studying intentional forgetting.
  • Previous research suggests intentional forgetting involves active suppression of target memories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of thought substitution on memory suppression within the think/no-think paradigm.
  • To examine the role of self-initiated strategies in successful intentional forgetting.

Main Methods:

  • Participants learned adjective-noun pairs.
  • Adjectives cued recall or suppression of nouns.
  • Aided participants used substitute thoughts during suppression.
  • Unaided participants relied on self-initiated strategies.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Aided participants showed below-baseline forgetting of suppressed items.
  • Unaided participants exhibited forgetting when reporting compliance with suppression.
  • Forgetting in unaided participants correlated with using alternative thoughts during suppression.

Conclusions:

  • Thought substitution can impair intentional forgetting.
  • Self-initiated strategies, like thinking of something else, enhance forgetting in the think/no-think paradigm.
  • The effectiveness of intentional forgetting depends on the strategies employed.