Remembering to forget fear: Augmenting exposure with retrieval-induced forgetting

This study investigated use of retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) to strengthen inhibitory memories following exposures for individuals with fear of public speaking. RIF refers to the weakening of memories following recall of related memories.

Participants (N = 64) with elevated public speaking fear completed 16 public speaking exposures over two visits. Following each speech, participants noted one positive, inhibitory memory (i.e., absence of unconditional stimulus of rejection) and one negative, excitatory memory (i.e., unconditional stimulus of rejection). Participants randomly assigned to the Inhibitory condition rehearsed positive memories following a procedure designed to induce forgetting of negative memories from the same speeches, whereas participants in the Control condition rehearsed a mix of positive and negative memories. After the second visit, participants recalled as many exposure memories as possible. We hypothesized that RIF would occur in both conditions and that Inhibitory condition participants induced to forget negative memories would report a greater decrease in public speaking fear.

In partial support of our hypotheses, we observed evidence of RIF only in the Inhibitory condition. We found no difference in change in public speaking fear between conditions, but participants who demonstrated more RIF reported a greater decrease in public speaking fear.

This is the first study to demonstrate RIF of fear-related memories. Differences in RIF between conditions suggests that fear-related memories may be more susceptible to RIF than inhibitory memories. Strategies that adapt RIF paradigms or other strategies to increase forgetting of fear-related memories should be honed in the future to augment exposure.