Memory inhibition, aging, and the executive deficit hypothesis.

Abstract

Although memory inhibition seems to underlie retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), there is some controversy about the precise nature of this effect. Because normal RIF is observed in people with deficits in executive control (i.e., older adults), some have proposed that an automatic-like inhibitory process is responsible for the effect. On the contrary, neurocognitive and dual-task findings with young people support the view that an executive control process underlies RIF. In the present study, we address this apparent controversy by comparing young and older participants under different dual-task conditions. Our results indicate that memory inhibition in older adults also depends on executive control, which is more easily disrupted by a secondary task in older than in young adults. Thus, the fact that RIF in older adults is sometimes present is not incompatible with a decline in executive control with aging. The results also shed some light into the discussion regarding the effect of dual tasking on retrieval.

A progress report on the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting

“…Second, inhibition is unlikely to be an all-or-none resource. In fact, in their recent work, Ortega, Gómez-Ariza, Román, and Bajo (2012) found that healthy older adults exhibit normal levels of retrievalinduced forgetting when retrieval practice is undertaken under typical conditions, but significantly less retrievalinduced forgetting when retrieval practice is undertaken concurrently with a task that taxes executive control. This finding suggests that the consequences of inhibitory deficits for retrieval-induced forgetting may only become apparent when they are great enough to impede the successful inhibition of competing responses.…”

“…For example, when a subset of items are re-presented for additional study instead of retrieval practice, this extra study results in comparable strengthening of target items but typically fails to cause nonstrengthened items to be forgotten (e.g., Anderson et al 2000a;Bäuml, 2002;Ciranni & Shimamura, 1999;Saunders et al, 2009). Similarly, a variety of manipulations-including dividing attention (Ortega, Gómez-Ariza, Román, & Bajo, 2012;Román, Soriano, Gómez-Ariza, & Bajo, 2009), inducing stress (Koessler, Engler, Riether, & Kissler, 2009), inducing negative mood (Bäuml & Kuhbandner, 2007), and reexposing items between retrieval practice and the final test (Storm et al, 2008)-selectively disrupt retrieval-induced forgetting without influencing the strengthening of practiced items. These and other observations have shown that retrievalinduced forgetting can be selectively diminished while preserving both retrieval-practice performance and the strengthening of Rp+ items.…”

Incidental retrieval-induced forgetting of location information

“…Evidence from experimental studies has suggested that inhibitory executive control is involved in the retrieval of information from long-term memory (Levy & Anderson, 2008;Ortega, Gómez-Ariza, Román, & Bajo, 2012;Román, Soriano, Gómez-Ariza, & Bajo, 2009). Inhibition in memory selection has been studied via the retrieval practice (RP) paradigm (Anderson, R. A. Bjork, & E. L. Bjork, 1994), a procedure in which participants first study cue-item pairs wherein each cue is associated with several items (e.g., fruit-banana, fruit-kiwi, tool-hammer, tool-pliers).…”

Interference resolution in face perception and name retrieval

“…For instance, it seems that the effect is maintained in early aging, but disappears during late aging (Aslan & Bäuml, 2012;Marful, Gómez-Amado, Ferreira, & Bajo, in press). Moreover, early aging participants' ability to inhibit competing items seems to disappear when their memory capacities are overloaded, by introducing, for instance, a dual task (Ortega et al, 2012).…”

“…Note that the term "controlled mechanism" does not necessarily involve intentionality. Instead, the term implies that executive control processes underlie the effects found in this paradigm and in fact, many recent studies speak in favor of this assumption (e.g., Román, Soriano, Gómez-Ariza, & Bajo, 2010;Ortega, Gómez-Ariza, Román, & Bajo, 2012).…”