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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 22, 2026

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments

Published on: April 15, 2014

Unintentional forgetting is beyond cognitive control.

Ashleigh M Maxcey^1,2, Bernadette Dezso³, Emma Megla³

¹Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. ammaxcey@gmail.com.

Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications

|July 18, 2019

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Even when aware of recognition-induced forgetting, people cannot intentionally prevent this unintentional memory loss. This suggests the forgetting mechanism is cognitively impenetrable.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Intentional forgetting involves top-down control to purposefully forget memories.
Recognition-induced forgetting (RIF) is an unintentional forgetting effect where accessing one memory impairs related memories.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if top-down control can be used to resist unintentional forgetting, specifically RIF.
To determine if knowledge of RIF and a challenge to resist it can prevent memory loss.

Main Methods:

Participants watched a video explaining RIF.
A comprehension test assessed understanding of RIF.
A subsequent RIF experiment challenged participants to resist the forgetting effect.

Main Results:

Despite understanding RIF and being prompted to resist it, participants still exhibited the forgetting effect.
Knowledge and conscious effort did not eliminate RIF.

Conclusions:

RIF appears to be cognitively impenetrable, as awareness and the challenge to resist did not mitigate its effects.
Top-down control mechanisms may not be sufficient to overcome certain forms of unintentional forgetting.