Towards a Cognitive and Neurobiological Model of Motivated Forgetting

Abstract

Historically, research on forgetting has been dominated by the assumption that forgetting is passive, refl ecting decay, interference, and changes in context. This emphasis arises from the pervasive assumption that forgetting is a negative outcome. Here, we present a functional view of forgetting in which the fate of experience in memory is determined as much by motivational forces that dictate the focus of attention as it is by passive factors. A central tool of motivated forgetting is retrieval suppression, a process whereby people shut down episodic retrieval to control awareness. We review behavioral, neurobiological, and clinical research and show that retrieval suppression leads us to forget suppressed experiences. We discuss key questions necessary to address to develop this model, relationships to other forgetting phenomena, and the implications of this research for understanding recovered memories. This work provides a foundation for understanding how motivational forces infl uence what we remember of life experience.

Cue-independent forgetting by intentional suppression – Evidence for inhibition as the mechanism of intentional forgetting

“…The generalized memory impairment by voluntary inhibition suggests the feasibility of interrupting daily life memories, which are linked with various contextual cues. An increasing amount of attention has been directed toward research on intentional inhibition and its potential relevance in understanding and treating clinical disorders (e.g., Anderson, Reinholz, Kuhl, & Mayr, 2011;Joormann et al, 2009;Kupper, Benoit, Dalgleish, & Anderson, 2014;van Schie et al, 2013; for a review see Anderson & Huddleston, 2012). Future attempts should determine whether intentional inhibition is also effective for remote memories.…”

Strength of Coupling within a Mnemonic Control Network Differentiates Those Who Can and Cannot Suppress Memory Retrieval

“…After participants completed this "same-probe" memory task, they also completed an incidental memory test for the target word (Independent-Probe test), in which they were given a category cue and the first letter of the target word (e.g., Tree-P___). This "independent-probe task" has been used previously to test whether the memory for the right-hand members of the word pairs is more difficult to access after repeated attempts to block their retrieval (Anderson and Green, 2001). However, we have shown that children have more difficulty than adults when attempting to retrieve the target word with a probe that differs from that used during initial learning and during the TNT phase (Paz-Alonso et al, 2009).…”

“…To study the neural basis of age-related changes and individual differences in mnemonic control, we adapted the original Think/No-Think (TNT) paradigm (Anderson and Green, 2001;Anderson et al, 2004), modifying the task design and word stimuli in the Bunge laboratory for use with children (Paz-Alonso et al, 2009). The TNT paradigm includes three phases: (1) an initial study phase, during which participants learn a set of word-word associations; (2) the TNT phase, during which they are shown one of the words and asked either to retrieve the associated word (Think trials) or to prevent the associated word from coming to mind (No-Think trials); and (3) the memory test phase, during which participants' memory for all the word pairs is assessed.…”

“…It has long been theorized that the ability to regulate memory retrieval has important benefits, not only for cognitive functioning but also for psychological well-being (Freud, 1966;Luria, 1968;Harnishfeger and Pope, 1996). Despite an active debate as to whether specific memories can be suppressed (Anderson and Green, 2001;Bulevich et al, 2006;Wegner, 2009;Depue, 2012;Detre et al in press), there is mounting evidence that individuals can exert some measure of control over the process of memory retrieval (i.e., mnemonic control) remembering more of the items or associations that they are asked to remember than those that they are asked to forget (e.g., Wilson and Kipp, 1998;MacLeod, 1999;Depue et al, 2006;Hanslmayr et al, 2009;Joormann et al, 2009). As is the case for other forms of cognitive control, the capacity for mnemonic control waxes and wanes over the life span (Harnishfeger and Pope, 1996;Paz-Alonso et al, 2009;Wendelken et al, 2011;but see Murray et al, 2011) and is subject to large individual differences (Levy and Anderson, 2008).…”

Information Avoidance

“…Although often thought of as a passive process, people may deliberately and selectively fail to rehearse negative information and therefore forget it over time (Bénabou and Tirole 2002). Motivated forgetting may help people deal with unpleasant life experiences (Anderson and Huddleston 2012) or reduce cognitive dissonance (Akerlof and Dickens 1982). Shu and Gino (2012) conducted four laboratory experiments in which participants completed an ability-based task and were paid according to their performance.…”