“Some of the best moments of our life are those when we completely

forget ourself”.

Sometimes We Rediscover Ourself When We completely Forget Ourself

Contents / Plan

• Introduction & Definition.

• Researches on Memory and

Forgetting in Historical

Perspective

• Factors Affecting Forgetting.

• Theories of Forgetting.

• Amnesia

• Improving your memory

(Mnemonics)

• References

Introduction

“To remember is to live.... We

are made of our memories. .. It

(memory) is the seat of our

identity; while reason made us

human, it was memory that

made us a particular

individual.....”

A Presentation on forgetting

by Sanjay Singh

Researches on memory

and Forgetting in

Historical Perspective

S.No. Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1908) Frederic Bartlett (1886-

1979)

1. was interested in quantitative

investigation of mental processes

emphasized role of

social influence on

memory.

2. devised a ‘revolutionary’ memory

measuring material, the nonsense

syllable (NSS)

used the method of

serial reproduction.

3. according to him memory is a

“associative” process.

Assumed memory as an

interpretative ore

“constructive” process.

4. memory generate higher

level interpretation of

the text & those

aspects of the text that

are not critical to the

text are modified at the

time of retrieval

Factors Affecting Forgeting S.No.

Factors Description

1. Amount of material Longer lists are difficult to learn than shorter lists.

2. Pattern of material Von Restroff Effect (Isolation Effect)

3. Method of learning Part Vs. whole

Distributed Vs. Massed

4. Personality factors Age

Motivation

Intelligence

5. Time spent in learning Over learning assisted by elaboration

6. Feedback Knowledge of how well one is doing helps to improve performance on a retention test.

7. Nature of material Logically organized and meaningfull materials are better remembered then NSS.

8. Experience Greater the experience on the task easier it becomes to remember it.

Theories of Forgetting

Trace Dependent

theories

Cue Dependent

theories

Interference

Theory

Encoding

Specificity

Principle

Psychoanalytical

Theory

Decay/

Atrophy

Theory

Preservation

Consolidation

Theory

Gestaltist approach /theory

Biochemical Theories

Stored information in LTM

Formations of memory traces related to information

physiological (neuroanatomical) changes over time

“Wearing out” or" breakdown” of memory traces over time

forgetting

evidence of forgetting

Manipulation of the

length of retention

interval

Manipulation of physiology

Fig. A model of decay disuse theory

Since physiology of the

hypothesized decay process is

not known, it can’t be directly

manipulated (i.e. rate of decay

can’t be changed)

CLASSIC STUDY DONE BY

JANEKIN AND

DALLENBACH

Information or

experiences

Setting up of memory traces related to information/experience

(A trace is defined as the small electrical

circuit formed in the brain)

Perseveration

(i.e. neuroelectricity travels around the circuit many times

leading to its consolidation

Disruption of the neural circuit

due to shock, accident etc.

Forgetting

Consolidation of neural circuit

Reinforcing consolidation

i. Sleep; lengthening the time of preservation etc.

ii. use of drugs like strychnine picrotoxin, metrozal etc.

iii. other physiological & therapeutic techniques

Lasting memories

Fig. A model of preservation consolidation theory

Basic assumptions of interference theory

1. Forgetting is caused by interference between

information being tested and other informations that

has been learned;

2. Analysis of learning in terms of associations

between stimulus & response items;

(a) interference occurs when the same

stimulus is associated with more than one

response;

(b) or, when, similar stimuli are associated

with different responses;

3. Two mechanisms are responsible for interference,

(a) Response competition

“multiple competing responses are

elicited by a stimulus”

(b) Unlearning

“ new association cause the

extinction of previous responses

Proactive Interference Retroactive Interference

Mod

el

Interferes

Interferes

Experi

-

mental

design

EG CG EG CG

Learn Task

A

Learn Task

B

Retention

Interval

Measure

Recall of

Task B

Rest

Learn Task B

Retention

Interval

Measure

Recall

Of task B

Learn Task A

Learn Task B

Retention

Interval

Measure

Recall of

Task A

Learn Task A

Rest

Retention

Interval

Measure

Recall

Of task A

Exampl

e

French Learned beforehand

interferes proactively

Spanish Learned afterwards interferes

retroactively

Previous

Learning Current

Learning

Previous

Learning Current

Learning

Study

French

Study

Spanish

Spanish

Test Study

French

Study

Spanish

French

Test

Sources of interference

1 Similarity of attributes/similarity paradox/Skaggs-Robinson

Hypothesis

“As similarity between interpolation and original memorization is

reduced from near identity, retention falls away to a minimum

and then rises again but with decreasing similarity it never

reaches the level obtaining with maximum similarity.”

(Robinson, 1927, p. 299)

Basic experiment done by Tulving & his colleagues

that led to death of Generation –Recognition Models &

birth of Encoding Specificity Principle

Phase 1:

• Subjects were presented with a target word along with a Cue word which

they were asked to attend to but not try to remember

• The target and the cue words were not closely associated with one-

another eg. ‘engine’-’black’

Phase2:

• subjects were given another list of words each of which was a strong

associate of one of the target words in the learning list (eg’ steam’)

• for each of theses phase 2 words subjects had to generate several

associations

• because of the inherent construction of the Phase 2 list (it’s words are

“strong” association of the target word) There was a high probability that

subjects would produce target items from the list as associations (eg.

steam-engine)

Phase 3

• Subjects were asked to indicate whether any of the words they had

generated (in phase 2 ) were target words from the list presented in

‘Phase 1’

Phase 4

• they were given the low- value (weak) cue words (eg. window) and asked

to recall which items were paired with them during the phose 1.

Encoding Specificity

Principle (ESP)

Figure:- the ESP essentially means that memory

performance depends directly on the similarity

between the information in memory and the

information available at retrieval

(Tulving & wiseman, 1976)

Tulving - Wiseman Law

Psychoanalytical Theory

of Forgetting

“ Nothing which has once been formed

can perish ... the past is eternally present”

“Forgetting in all cases is proved to be

founded on a motive of displeasure.”

“After the collapse of religion, gods

turn into demons”

Sigmund Freud

Experimental Group

Learn Task A

Practice

Task B

+

Ego deflation

Recall Task

A

Result: repression

occurred

More practice

On task B

+

Ego inflation

Recall Task

A

Repression

Lessened/removed

Fig: Zeller’s Experiment

(“Forgetting founded on a motive of displeasure”)

Control Group

Learn Task A

Practice

Task B

Recall

Task A

Total = 20 tasks

Interrupted

(=10)

Completed

(=10)

Recall all lasks

Total recalled = 50% (avg)

(out of 20)

Out of this 50%

68% recall of unfinished task

43% recall of the finished task

Fig: The Zeigarnik effect

(Subjects have a tendency to remember interrupted tasks better than completed

tasks)

GESTALT THEORY OF

FORGETTING

Gestalt psychologists have approached the study of

memory and forgetting from the side of perception.

A B C

Fig: Gestalt approach to forgetting

“Information is never lost.... It is only transformed....

Forgetting is only a construction and reconstruction and

it is innate tendency of human being to attempt for

simplicity and symmetry”

AMNESIA

“any partial or complete loss of

memory”

Psychological amnesia Biological amnesia / organic

amnesia

Childhood Amnesia

•Repression

•Richness memory & language

development go hand in hand.

•Memory machine (brain) is not

mature

Transient Global Amnesia

•A profound memory problem with

no loss of consciousness.

•Reason – alternation in blood flow

to brain.

Dream Amnesia

•Repression

•Difference in symbol system used in

dreaming & waking (Hall)

•State dependent memory

•Biological basis

Drug Amnesia

•Effect of drug on brain chemistry

•State dependent memory

•Heavy drinking Vitamin B

deficiency.

Defensive Amnesia

•Considered as a way of protecting

oneself from the guilt or anxiety

Diseases of the brain

•Senile dementia

•Alzheimer's disease

Beating the forgetting :

Improving your memory

Mnemonics

Pegword System

Method of Loci

Telling A Story to Yourself

Organizational Devices (chunking)

Use of Imagery

PQRST Technique

PASAR Technique

PROFRO Technique

“The existence of forgetting has

never been proved: We only know

that some thing don’t come to mind

when we want them to.”

“When someone is not in the form

the best way is not to hit out but to

camp at the crease.”

•References

Parkins A.J. ,(1993), Memory – phenomenon Experiments and

Theory, Blackwell

Stephen R. Schmidt (2000), cognitive psychology, theories of

forgetting

www. mtsu. edu/~sschmidt / cognitive/ forgetting.html

Coone L.&Fisher R. (2000), How do we forget?

www.scism.sbu.ac.uk /inmandw/tutorials/memory

944 htm

http://www.memory key.com

http://Psy.ucsd.edu/ ~ Jwixted /Vita.html

http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/

class notes.

“Some of the best moments of our life are those when we completely forget our self”