Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
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

Related Concept Videos

Working Memory01:24

Working Memory

156
Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this...
156
Forgetting01:21

Forgetting

70
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.
Encoding...
70
Interference and Decay01:16

Interference and Decay

136
Forgetting is a complex cognitive phenomenon influenced by several factors, among which interference and decay are particularly prominent. These processes explain why individuals often struggle to retrieve specific information from memory, leading to lapses in recall that can be observed in everyday situations.
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...
136
Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory01:22

Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory

200
Improving short-term memory can be achieved through techniques like chunking and rehearsal. Chunking involves organizing information into larger, more manageable units. This technique is particularly useful for information that exceeds the typical memory span of between five and nine items. For instance, logging into an online account with a password like "ta89vq0179gz" involves grouping letters and numbers into three chunks—ta89, vq01, and 79gz. It makes large amounts of...
200
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory01:26

Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory

746
Memory is one of the most vital higher mental functions of the brain. Memory is closely related to learning because it enables us to retain information and experiences from our past to use them in our present life. It also helps us to remember facts, events, and skills, such as riding a bike or swimming. There are two types of memory — declarative memory, which involves memorizing facts or events, and procedural memory, which enables us to remember how to do something like writing or...
746
Chunking01:12

Chunking

94
Chunking is a powerful cognitive technique that improves short-term memory retention by organizing information into smaller, more manageable units. The brain, limited by working memory capacity, can more easily process and store information when it is divided into "chunks" rather than presented as discrete, unrelated elements. Chunking is especially useful when dealing with large amounts of information, such as numerical sequences, words, or complex ideas.
The principle behind chunking...
94

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Conscious vision: Why wait?

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2026
Same author

Feature- and space-based interference with functionally active and passive items in working memory.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2026
Same author

Sustained alpha oscillations serve attentional prioritization in working memory, not maintenance.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2026
Same author

Microglial response to sleep deprivation depends on the hippocampal region and paradigm used in adult male mice.

Brain, behavior, & immunity - health·2026
Same author

Subtle Gaze and Pupil Dynamics: Detecting Recognition of Familiar Faces with Moving Serial Visual Presentation.

Journal of cognition·2026
Same author

Multimodal detection of concealed information in rapid serial visual presentation using EEG and pupillometry.

Neuropsychologia·2026
Same journal

Mind wandering during first- and foreign-language reading.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Lexical word processing is unaffected by rapid invisible frequency tagging in reading: Evidence from eye movements.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Anxiety modulates voluntary attentional orienting to emotional gaze cues: Eye movements for pro- and anti-saccades.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Faster key-press responses to front vowels than back vowels when matching heard vowels with represented vowels.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Testing the interleaving effect without response bias: A forced-choice reevaluation of Kornell and Bjork (2008).

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

The impact of social interaction on abstract concepts.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2025

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
07:01

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Published on: September 20, 2020

4.7K

Adaptive forgetting speed in working memory.

Joost de Jong1, Sophia Wilhelm2, Elkan G Akyürek2

  • 1Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, Groningen, the Netherlands. joost.de.jong@rug.nl.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|May 8, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Working memory selectively forgets information based on time. Participants implicitly sped up forgetting when items became irrelevant faster, demonstrating adaptive memory.

Keywords:
ForgettingProbing hazardWorking memory

More Related Videos

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
10:38

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

Published on: July 16, 2015

13.6K
Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
09:05

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)

Published on: June 12, 2017

29.7K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 26, 2025

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
07:01

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Published on: September 20, 2020

4.7K
A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
10:38

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

Published on: July 16, 2015

13.6K
Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
09:05

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)

Published on: June 12, 2017

29.7K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Working memory is capacity-limited, requiring selective encoding and forgetting.
  • Mechanisms of adaptive forgetting in working memory, especially implicit cues, are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how the passage of time, as an implicit cue, influences forgetting in working memory.
  • To determine if working memory adaptively adjusts forgetting rates based on temporal task structures.

Main Methods:

  • Three delayed-estimation experiments were conducted.
  • Participants' memory recall was tested under varying temporal probing probabilities (hazard rates).
  • Probing hazard dynamics (decreasing, increasing, or flat) were manipulated across blocks.

Main Results:

  • Participants adapted their forgetting rates to the temporal dynamics of the task.
  • Higher forgetting rates were observed when memory items became irrelevant more quickly (decreasing hazard).
  • Adaptations in forgetting occurred implicitly, as participants could not report condition orders.

Conclusions:

  • Working memory implicitly adjusts forgetting speed based on the temporal relevance of information.
  • These findings suggest a flexible mechanism for allocating limited working memory resources.
  • Implicit adaptations to environmental temporal structures tune working memory forgetting.