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Chiu YC, Wang TH, Beck DM, Lewis-Peacock JA, Sahakyan L. Separation of item and context in item-method directed forgetting. Neuroimage 2021; 235:117983. [PMID: 33762219 PMCID: PMC8258431 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2020] [Revised: 03/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Contextual information plays a critical role in directed forgetting (DF) of lists of items, whereas DF of individual items has been primarily associated with item-level processing. This study was designed to investigate whether context processing also contributes to the forgetting of individual items. Participants first viewed a series of words, with task-irrelevant scene images (used as "context tags") interspersed between them. Later, these words reappeared without the scenes and were followed by an instruction to remember or forget that word. Multivariate pattern analyses of fMRI data revealed that the reactivation of context information associated with the studied words (i.e., scene-related activity) was greater whereas the item-related information diminished after a forget instruction compared to a remember instruction. Critically, we found the magnitude of the separation between item information and context information predicted successful forgetting. These results suggest that the unbinding of an item from its context may support the intention to forget, and more generally they establish that contextual processing indeed contributes to item-method DF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Chieh Chiu
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL 61820, United States; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, United States
| | - Tracy H Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, United States
| | - Diane M Beck
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL 61820, United States; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, United States
| | | | - Lili Sahakyan
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL 61820, United States; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, United States.
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2
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Forgetting under difficult conditions: Item-method directed forgetting under perceptual processing constraints. Mem Cognit 2021; 49:1101-1118. [PMID: 33650022 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-021-01149-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Intentional forgetting of unwanted items is effortful, yet directed forgetting seems to improve when a secondary task is performed. According to the cognitive load hypothesis of directed forgetting, allocating attentional resources to another task improves forgetting by restricting unwanted encoding of to-be-forgotten (TBF) items. Alternatively, it might be that anything that makes studying more difficult will encourage greater effort to perform the task well and therefore lead to improved intentional forgetting. To assess these proposals we imposed data-processing limitations on study words in an item-method directed forgetting paradigm. Across six experiments, the perceptual quality of study words was manipulated by varying: (1) the duration of study word presentation (Experiments 1-4); (2) the contrast of the displayed word against its visual background (Experiment 5); or (3) the amount of visual background noise on which the word was presented (Experiment 6). In Experiments 4-6, a lexical decision task corroborated the difficulty of study word processing. Despite evidence that relatively low visual contrast and relatively high visual background noise, in particular, create challenging conditions, we found no evidence that perceptual quality impacts the magnitude of the directed forgetting effect. This work suggests that data limitations have no discernible effect on forgetting and corroborate that only attentional resource limitations improve directed forgetting.
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3
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Xie H, Chen Y, Lin Y, Hu X, Zhang D. Can’t forget: disruption of the right prefrontal cortex impairs voluntary forgetting in a recognition test. Memory 2019; 28:60-69. [DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2019.1681456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hui Xie
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yu Chen
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yiqin Lin
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiaoqing Hu
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China
- The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China
- HKU, Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
| | - Dandan Zhang
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
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4
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Remember to blink: Reduced attentional blink following instructions to forget. Atten Percept Psychophys 2019; 80:1489-1503. [PMID: 29691764 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-018-1528-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
This study used rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) to determine whether, in an item-method directed forgetting task, study word processing ends earlier for forget words than for remember words. The critical manipulation required participants to monitor an RSVP stream of black nonsense strings in which a single blue word was embedded. The next item to follow the word was a string of red fs that instructed the participant to forget the word or green rs that instructed the participant to remember the word. After the memory instruction, a probe string of black xs or os appeared at postinstruction positions 1-8. Accuracy in reporting the identity of the probe string revealed an attenuated attentional blink following instructions to forget. A yes-no recognition task that followed the study trials confirmed a directed forgetting effect, with better recognition of remember words than forget words. Considered in the context of control conditions that required participants to commit either all or none of the study words to memory, the pattern of probe identification accuracy following the directed forgetting task argues that an intention to forget releases limited-capacity attentional resources sooner than an instruction to remember-despite participants needing to maintain an ongoing rehearsal set in both cases.
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5
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Nourkova VV, Gofman AA, Kozlov MD. On the Very-Long-Term Effect of Managing One's Own Memory: The Intention to Forget Improves Recognition After a Year's Delay. EUROPES JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 14:776-791. [PMID: 30555585 PMCID: PMC6266526 DOI: 10.5964/ejop.v14i4.1606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
While such factors as demand characteristics, encoding, and retrieval inhibition were shown to be significant in producing the directed forgetting effect, no attention was paid to whether the intention to manage one's own memory, per se, matters. In the present article, we addressed this important gap in the literature. To control the quality of encoding we ensured that both the to-be-remembered (TBR) and to-be-forgotten (TBF) items were genuinely learned before the manipulation. We used extremely long delays between the memory instructions and testing to release inhibition associated with the content of instructions. 98 participants demonstrated flawless recall of 12 Russian - made up language word pairs. They then viewed each Russian word from a pair once, with randomized instructions "Forget", "Remember", "Repeat", or a short cognitive task. Self-reports on the mnemonic strategies were collected. Free recall and recognition tests were administered three times - 45 minutes, a month and a year (N = 58) later. Despite a strong incentive to recall all word pairs, fewer TBF pairs were recalled in comparison with TBR pairs, both after 45 minutes and after one month's delay. Recognition among all conditions was equally high. A year later free recall was close to zero. In contrast, the TBR and TBF pairs were recognized equally better than pairs presented in "Repeat" and "Task" conditions. Thus, our results show that the intention to manage one's own memory enhances the accessibility of memories at a very long time delay, no matter what type of instruction is issued.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika V. Nourkova
- Department of General Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alena A. Gofman
- Department of General Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
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6
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Schindler S, Kissler J. Too hard to forget? ERPs to remember, forget, and uninformative cues in the encoding phase of item-method directed forgetting. Psychophysiology 2018; 55:e13207. [PMID: 30112763 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2017] [Revised: 04/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In item-method directed forgetting, worse memory performance occurs for to-be-forgotten (TBF) than for to-be-remembered (TBR) items. However, recently TBF items have been found to be recognized more accurately than uninformative (UI) items not associated with any specific task. Here, we compare ERPs elicited by cues signaling the remember or the forget instruction with those elicited by uninformative cues. Participants were presented with a series of complex pictures, each followed by a symbolic TBR, TBF, or UI cue. On a yes-no recognition test, accuracy was higher for TBR than for both TBF and UI items. However, TBF items were recognized more accurately than UI items. ERPs elicited by the TBR cue were larger than ERPs elicited by both TBF and UI cues at the frontal P2, the late frontal negativity, and the late parietal positivity complex. This is consistent with more attention capture, selective rehearsal, and long-term memory encoding of TBR. In contrast, both TBF and UI cues induced a larger frontal N2 than TBR cues. Critically, TBF elicited a larger late right-frontal positivity than both UI and TBR cues and a larger late parietal positivity than UI cues. Moreover, the late right-frontal positivity was correlated with better recognition performance. It may therefore reflect processing orientation rather than inhibition per se. Results suggest that, when compared to UI cues, both TBR and TBF cues are processed actively. Distinct processing is seen at right frontal and centroparietal positive ERPs that may mediate better subsequent recognition of TBF than of UI items.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Schindler
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.,Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.,Cognitive and Affective Psychophysiology Laboratory, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Johanna Kissler
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.,Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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A grand memory for forgetting: Directed forgetting across contextual changes. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018; 188:39-54. [PMID: 29857288 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Revised: 05/17/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Using an item-method directed forgetting task, we presented homographic homophonic nouns embedded in sentences. At study, each sentence was followed by an instruction to remember or forget the embedded word. On a subsequent yes-no recognition test, each word was again embedded within a sentence. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4 we varied the embedding sentence at test so that it was identical to that at study, changed but retained the meaning of the studied word, or changed to alter the meaning of the studied word. Repeated context - whether the sentence and/or the word meaning - proved to be as useful a retrieval cue for TBF items as for TBR items. In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that physical repetition was insufficient to produce context effects for either TBR or TBF items. And, in Experiment 4, we determined that participants were equally accurate in reporting context repetition/change following the correct recognition of TBR and TBF items. When considered in light of the existing literature, our results suggest that when context can be dissociated from the study item, it is encoded in "one shot" and not vulnerable to subsequent efforts to limit unwanted encoding.
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Lee YS. Withdrawal of spatial overt attention following intentional forgetting: evidence from eye movements. Memory 2017; 26:503-513. [DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2017.1378360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuh-shiow Lee
- Department of Psychology, National Chung-Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan, R. O. C
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9
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Fawcett JM, Lawrence MA, Taylor TL. The representational consequences of intentional forgetting: Impairments to both the probability and fidelity of long-term memory. J Exp Psychol Gen 2016; 145:56-81. [PMID: 26709589 PMCID: PMC4694085 DOI: 10.1037/xge0000128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2014] [Revised: 09/25/2015] [Accepted: 10/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
We investigated whether intentional forgetting impacts only the likelihood of later retrieval from long-term memory or whether it also impacts the fidelity of those representations that are successfully retrieved. We accomplished this by combining an item-method directed forgetting task with a testing procedure and modeling approach inspired by the delayed-estimation paradigm used in the study of visual short-term memory (STM). Abstract or concrete colored images were each followed by a remember (R) or forget (F) instruction and sometimes by a visual probe requiring a speeded detection response (E1-E3). Memory was tested using an old-new (E1-E2) or remember-know-no (E3) recognition task followed by a continuous color judgment task (E2-E3); a final experiment included only the color judgment task (E4). Replicating the existing literature, more "old" or "remember" responses were made to R than F items and RTs to postinstruction visual probes were longer following F than R instructions. Color judgments were more accurate for successfully recognized or recollected R than F items (E2-E3); a mixture model confirmed a decrease to both the probability of retrieving the F items as well as the fidelity of the representation of those F items that were retrieved (E4). We conclude that intentional forgetting is an effortful process that not only reduces the likelihood of successfully encoding an item for later retrieval, but also produces an impoverished memory trace even when those items are retrieved; these findings draw a parallel between the control of memory representations within working and long-term memory.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Tracy L Taylor
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University
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Zwissler B, Schindler S, Fischer H, Plewnia C, Kissler JM. 'Forget me (not)?' - Remembering Forget-Items Versus Un-Cued Items in Directed Forgetting. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1741. [PMID: 26635657 PMCID: PMC4644810 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2015] [Accepted: 10/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans need to be able to selectively control their memories. This capability is often investigated in directed forgetting (DF) paradigms. In item-method DF, individual items are presented and each is followed by either a forget- or remember-instruction. On a surprise test of all items, memory is then worse for to-be-forgotten items (TBF) compared to to-be-remembered items (TBR). This is thought to result mainly from selective rehearsal of TBR, although inhibitory mechanisms also appear to be recruited by this paradigm. Here, we investigate whether the mnemonic consequences of a forget instruction differ from the ones of incidental encoding, where items are presented without a specific memory instruction. Four experiments were conducted where un-cued items (UI) were interspersed and recognition performance was compared between TBR, TBF, and UI stimuli. Accuracy was encouraged via a performance-dependent monetary bonus. Experiments varied the number of items and their presentation speed and used either letter-cues or symbolic cues. Across all experiments, including perceptually fully counterbalanced variants, memory accuracy for TBF was reduced compared to TBR, but better than for UI. Moreover, participants made consistently fewer false alarms and used a very conservative response criterion when responding to TBF stimuli. Thus, the F-cue results in active processing and reduces false alarm rate, but this does not impair recognition memory beyond an un-cued baseline condition, where only incidental encoding occurs. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bastian Zwissler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neurophysiology and Interventional Neuropsychiatry, University Hospital Tübingen - University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sebastian Schindler
- Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld Bielefeld, Germany ; Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, University of Bielefeld Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Helena Fischer
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz Konstanz, Germany
| | - Christian Plewnia
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neurophysiology and Interventional Neuropsychiatry, University Hospital Tübingen - University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany
| | - Johanna M Kissler
- Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld Bielefeld, Germany ; Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, University of Bielefeld Bielefeld, Germany
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11
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Selection for encoding: No evidence of greater attentional capture following forget than remember instructions. Atten Percept Psychophys 2015; 78:168-86. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-015-0984-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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