Forgetting

All of us have experienced forgetting. Forgetting can be particularly frustrating when attempting to access information that we know we have learned, have accessed before, need immediately--but cannot remember. Why and how we forget has been the subject of much psychological and cognitive research. Forgetting can be due to a problem with encoding, storage, retrieval, or a combination of these factors. To date, the principle explanations of forgetting are as follows:

• Encoding Failure - If perceived information is not successfully encoded by working memory for entry into long-term memory, the information will be lost. This can occur because of insufficient time to encode, inattention or lack of rehearsal, or distraction/ interruption during the encoding process.
• Interference - Interference occurs when new information interacts with previously learned information. The more similar the new information is with the old, the more likely this event is to occur. There are two types of interference: retroactive and proactive.
  • Retroactive - New information interferes with prior learning. The new material works "backwards" and corrupts previously learned information. An example is learning a new phone number and having difficult recalling the old number.
  • Proactive - Old information interferes with new information being learned. In this case, the old information is projected forward and interferes with new learning. An example is getting a new phone number and having difficulty remembering it because of confusion with the old number.
• Retrieval Failure - There are two theories of retrieval failure:
  • Trace Decay - Failure occurs because the memory trace has faded and decayed. This occurs when the information in memory has not be accessed or used for a period of time.
  • Lost Linkage - The memory is still in storage, but the retrieval cues or links to find it have been lost. That is, the memory is still there, but it cannot be found. The same principle of fading or decay from disuse applies, but it applies to the link instead of the stored memory.