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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: Apr 4, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
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Retrieval-induced forgetting is associated with increased positivity when imagining the future.

Saskia Giebl1, Benjamin C Storm2, Dorothy R Buchli3

  • 1a Department of Psychology , University of California , Los Angeles , CA , USA.

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|September 3, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Retrieval-induced forgetting, a memory process, may help reduce negative future event imagination. This suggests a link between memory recall inhibition and maintaining a positive outlook.

Keywords:
Autobiographical memoryEpisodic future thinkingInhibitionPositivity biasRetrieval-induced forgetting

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Memory Research

Background:

  • Individuals often exhibit a positivity bias, viewing themselves and their experiences more favorably than objective reality.
  • Inhibitory control processes are hypothesized to contribute to this bias by reducing the recall of negative memories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between retrieval-induced forgetting and the tendency to imagine positive versus negative future episodic events.
  • To explore the role of memory inhibition in shaping future outlook.

Main Methods:

  • Participants completed a task to measure their ability to imagine personal positive and negative episodic future events.
  • The degree of retrieval-induced forgetting was assessed in relation to their future event imagination.
  • Correlation analysis was used to examine the association between these measures.

Main Results:

  • A significant negative correlation was found between retrieval-induced forgetting and the imagination of negative future episodic events.
  • Individuals with higher levels of retrieval-induced forgetting reported imagining fewer negative future events.
  • Conversely, lower levels of retrieval-induced forgetting were associated with imagining more negative future events.

Conclusions:

  • Retrieval-induced forgetting may play a role in limiting the influence of negative past experiences on future imagination.
  • This memory mechanism could contribute to the maintenance of a positive self-perception and outlook.
  • Findings offer new insights into the functional role of autobiographical memory and inhibitory control.