Can encoding differences explain the benefits of directed forgetting in the list method paradigm?

doi:10.1016/S0749-596X(02)00524-7

Journal of Memory and Language

Volume 48, Issue 1, January 2003, Pages 195-206

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-596X(02)00524-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

We propose that the benefits of directed forgetting are explained by the differences in recall arising from individual strategy choices used to encode List 2. In Experiment 1, inducing participants to encode both lists using the same strategy (either shallow or deep) led to significant costs of directed forgetting but abolished the benefits. In Experiment 2, inducing a shallow encoding on List 1 and a deep encoding on List 2 produced similar results, abolishing the benefits but not the costs. Reanalysis of Sahakyan and Kelley’s (in press) Experiment 2 showed that the costs of directed forgetting could be detected irrespective of participants’ strategy choices. However, the benefits of directed forgetting are best explained by a more frequent use of deeper encoding of the second list by the forget group participants.

Section snippets

Theoretical explanations of directed forgetting

The dominant theory of directed forgetting has been the retrieval inhibition hypothesis (Bjork, 1989). The forget instruction was said to invoke a process that at retrieval blocked or suppressed the access to the List 1 items, producing the costs. The benefits of directed forgetting have been attributed to the forget group escaping from proactive interference (PI) because inhibited List 1 items would not cause proactive interference. The primary evidence for this comes from studies comparing

Encoding strategies in directed forgetting

The role of encoding strategies has been largely overlooked in directed forgetting studies. Both existing theories predict a homogeneous effect of the forget instruction regardless of encoding strategy. Thus, our interest in encoding strategies was motivated by two theoretical concerns. First, we wondered if the directed forgetting effects would turn out to be contingent on the particular encoding strategy employed by a participant. For example, shallow encoding strategies like rote rehearsal

Experiment 1

To determine the relationship between the encoding processes and the directed forgetting effect, the encoding strategy on both lists was controlled in Experiment I. In particular, participants were told to use shallow and deep encoding strategies most commonly reported in verbal reports, namely rehearsing the words and creating a story with all the items. In retrospective verbal reports, most participants indicated that they engaged in maintenance rehearsal and added each new word into the

Experiment 2

The findings of Experiment 1 revealed a rather surprising outcome regarding the benefits of directed forgetting. The benefits were eliminated and there was significant proactive interference that was built up, even in the forget and remember plus context change groups when encoding was controlled. Previous mechanisms suggesting that the forget cue led to an overall escape from PI either via context change or alternatively via retrieval inhibition must be insufficient to explain the directed

A strategy-based account of directed forgetting benefits

As stated in the introduction, the benefits of directed forgetting have been attributed to the escape from proactive interference in the forget group (Bjork & Bjork, 1996; Bjork & Woodward, 1973; Sahakyan & Kelley, in press). However, the results of our experiments showed that only those participants that switched from a shallow to a deep encoding strategy actually escaped from proactive interference (Experiment 2). Furthermore, there was no difference in List 2 recall among the conditions

General discussion

In this paper, we presented evidence highlighting the role of encoding processes in the directed forgetting effect—mainly in its benefits.The costs of directed forgetting were detected, even when experimentally or statistically controlling for the quality of encoding. However, the benefits were abolished when encoding strategy was induced to be the same on both lists. The loss of benefits was due to significant build up of PI in all experimental conditions. The benefits were also abolished when

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Can encoding differences explain the benefits of directed forgetting in the list method paradigm?

Abstract

Section snippets

Theoretical explanations of directed forgetting

Encoding strategies in directed forgetting

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

A strategy-based account of directed forgetting benefits

General discussion

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior

Consciousness and Cognition

Journal of Memory and Language

Consciousness and Cognition

Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in human memory

The modification of short-term memory through instructions to forget

Psychonomic Science

Directed forgetting of individual words in free recall

Journal of Experimental Psychology

An analysis of item gains and losses in retroactive interference

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

The strategy-specific nature of improvement: The power law applies by strategy within task

Psychological Science

Levels of processing and organization: Additive effects of individual-item and relational processing

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory

Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data