Can self-referential information improve directed forgetting? Evidence from a multinomial processing tree model

Abstract

A large body of research has shown that self-referential processing can enhance an individual’s memory of information. However, there are many arguments about how self-referential processing affects directed forgetting (DF). In this study, two experiments were designed to investigate the DF effect and its internal psychological mechanism under explicit and implicit referential conditions using the item-method DF paradigm combined with the storage-retrieval MPT model. We compare the difference in the DF effect between self-referential and other-referential conditions and explain the reasons for the difference. Our results suggest that the item-method DF effect is the result of a selective rehearsal mechanism and a retrieval inhibition mechanism working together. Both self-reference and other-reference can cause DF in explicit referential processing or implicit referential processing, although the DF effect is stronger under the self-referential condition. Furthermore, the memory advantage effect of implicit self-referential processing is stronger than that of explicit self-referential processing.

Time is of the essence: past selves are not prioritized even when selective discrimination costs are controlled for

“…The SPE is only one of a wide array of phenomena in which self-involvement affects information processing, encoding and performance. Other such effects have been demonstrated in the domains of perception and attention, memory, judgment and evaluation (Alexopoulos et al, 2012;Beggan, 1992;Brédart et al, 2006;Conway & Dewhurst, 1995;Cunningham et al, 2008;Englert & Wentura, 2016;Falbén et al, 2020;Golubickis et al, 2021;Krigolson et al, 2013;Sedikides et al, 2016;Symons & Johnson, 1997;Turk et al, 2011;van den Bos et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2019). Effects of self-relevance appear to be affected by different mechanisms.…”