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Forgetting

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Forgetting is an intrinsic aspect of human memory, characterized by the gradual loss or inaccessibility of information over time. Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneering psychologist, extensively studied this phenomenon and formulated the forgetting curve. This curve illustrates that memory loss occurs rapidly immediately after learning and then decelerates over time. Several mechanisms contribute to forgetting, including encoding failure, storage decay, retrieval failure, and interference.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

Directed forgetting meets the production effect: distinctive processing is resistant to intentional forgetting.

Kathleen L Hourihan¹, Colin M Macleod

¹Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. klhourih@watarts.uwaterloo.ca

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology = Revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale

|December 17, 2008

Summary

Reading aloud improves memory (production effect). However, aloud-read words were not forgotten when instructed, unlike silently-read words, supporting distinctiveness theory.

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A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Memory Research

Background:

The production effect demonstrates that reading aloud enhances explicit memory compared to silent reading.
The distinctiveness account proposes that auditory processing during reading aloud increases memory distinctiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the distinctiveness account of the production effect.
To examine how reading aloud influences directed forgetting.

Main Methods:

Utilized the item method directed forgetting procedure.
Participants studied words by reading half silently and half aloud.
Memory instructions (Remember/Forget) were assigned to studied words.

Main Results:

A significant production effect was found for both Remember and Forget conditions in recognition tests.
Directed forgetting occurred only for silently read words; aloud-read words were unaffected by instructions.
An implicit speeded reading test revealed equivalent priming across all conditions.

Conclusions:

Findings support the distinctiveness account of the production effect.
Distinctively processed words (read aloud) are less susceptible to forgetting cues.
Auditory processing during production may create memory traces less influenced by subsequent rehearsal instructions.