Why We Forget

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Why do we forget?

From forgetting where you left your keys to forgetting to


return a phone call, memory failures are an almost daily occurrence. Forgetting
is so common that you probably rely on numerous methods to help you
remember important information such as jotting down notes in a daily planner or
scheduling important events on your phone's calendar.

As you are frantically searching for your missing car keys, it may seem that that
the information about where you left them is permanently gone from your
memory. However, forgetting is generally not about actually losing or erasing
this information from your long-term memory. Forgetting typically involves a
failure in memory retrieval. While the information is somewhere in your long-
term memory, you are not able to actually retrieve and remember it.

The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus was one of the first to scientifically study


forgetting. In experiments where he used himself as the subject, Ebbinghaus
tested his memory using three-letter nonsense syllables. He relied on such
nonsense words because using previously known words would have involved
drawing on his existing knowledge and associations in his memory.

In order to test for new information, Ebbinghaus tested his memory for periods
of time ranging from 20 minutes to 31 days. He then published his findings in
1885 in Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology.

His results, plotted in what is known as the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve,


revealed a relationship between forgetting and time. Initially, information is
often lost very quickly after it is learned. Factors such as how the information
was learned and how frequently it was rehearsed play a role in how quickly
these memories are lost.

The forgetting curve also showed that forgetting does not continue to decline
until all of the information is lost. At a certain point, the amount of forgetting
levels off. What exactly does this mean? It indicates that information stored
in long-term memory is surprisingly stable.

How to Measure Forgetting

So how do we know when something has been forgotten? There are a few
different ways to measure this:

Recall: People who have been asked to memorize something, such as a list of


terms, might be asked to recall the list from memory. By seeing how many
items are remembered, researchers are able to identify how much information
has been forgotten. This method might involve the use of free recall (recalling
items without hints) or prompted recall (utilizing hints to trigger memories).
Recognition: This method involves identifying information that was previously
learned. On a test, for example, students might have to recognize which terms
they learned about in a chapter of their assigned reading.

Why Do We Forget? A Few Explanations

Of course, many factors can contribute to forgetting. Sometimes you might be


distracted when you learn new information, which might mean that you never
truly retain the information long enough to remember it later. Well-known
memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus has proposed four key explanations for why
forgetting occurs. Learn more about her explanations for forgetting.

A few of the major theories of forgetting include:

The Interference Theory of Forgetting

What did you have for dinner Tuesday night of last week? Is that difficult to
recall? If someone had asked you that question Wednesday morning you
probably would have had no problem recalling what you had for dinner the night
before. But as intervening days pass, the memories of all the other meals you
have eaten since then start to interfere with your memory of that one particular
meal. This is a good example of what psychologists refer to as the interference
theory of forgetting.

According to interference theory, forgetting is the result of different memories


interfering with one another. It is difficult to remember what happened on an
average school day two months ago because so many other days have occurred
since then. The more similar two or more events are to one another, the more
likely interference will occur. Unique and distinctive events, however, are less
likely to suffer from interference. Your 12th-grade prom, high school graduation,
wedding, and birth of your first child are much more likely to be recalled because
they are singular events - days like no other.

Interference also plays a role in what is known as the serial position effect, or


the tendency to recall the first and last items of a list. For example, imagine that
you wrote down a shopping list but forgot to take it with you to the store. In all
likelihood, you will probably be able to easily recall the first and last items on
your list, but you might forget many of the items that were in the middle. The
first thing you wrote down and the last thing you wrote down stand out as being
more distinct, while the fourth item and seventh item might seem so similar that
they interfere with each other.

There are two basic types of interference that can occur:

Retroactive interference happens when newly acquired information interferes


with old memories. For example, a teacher learning the names of her new class
of students at the start of a school year might find it more difficult to recall the
names of the students in her class last year. The new information interferes with
the old information.

Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information makes it more


difficult to form new memories. Learning a new phone number or locker
combination might be more difficult, for example, because your memories of
your old phone number and combination interfere with the new information.

Eliminating interference altogether is impossible, but there are a few things you
can do to minimize its effects. One of the best things you can do is rehearse new
information in order to better commit it to memory. In fact, many experts
recommend overlearningimportant information, which involves rehearsing the
material over and over again until it can be reproduced perfectly with no errors.

Another tactic to fight interference is to switch up your routine and avoid


studying similar material back to back. For example, don't try to study
vocabulary terms for your Spanish language class right after studying terms for
your German class. Break up the material and switch to a completely different
subject each study session.

Sleep also plays an essential role in memory formation. Researchers suggest


that sleeping after you learn something new is one of the best ways to turn new
memories into lasting ones.

The Decay Theory of Forgetting

According to the trace theory of memory, the formation of new memories results
in physical and chemical changes in the brain that result in a memory 'trace.'
Information in short-term memory lasts approximately 15 to 30 seconds and if it
is not rehearsed, the neurochemical memory trace quickly fades.

According to the trace decay theory of forgetting, the events that happen
between the formation of a memory and the recall of the memory have no
impact on recall. Instead, trace theory proposes that is the length of time
between the memory and recalling that information determines whether the
information will be retained or forgotten. If the time interval is short, more
information will be recalled. If a longer period of time passes, more information
will be forgotten and memory will be poorer.

The idea that memories fade over time is hardly new. The Greek philosopher
Plato suggested such a thing more than 2,500 years ago. Later, experimental
research by psychologists such as Ebbinghaus bolstered this theory.

One of the problems with this theory is that it is difficult to demonstrate that
time alone is responsible for declines in recall. In real-world situations, many
things are bound to happen between the formation of a memory and the recall
of that information. A student who learns something in class, for example, might
have hundreds of unique and individual experiences between learning that
information and having to recall it on an exam. Was forgetting the date that the
American Revolutionary War began due to the length of time between learning
the date in your American History class and being tested on it, or did the
multitude of information acquired during that interval of time play a role?
Testing this can be exceedingly difficult, since it is nearly impossible to eliminate
all the information that might have an influence between the creation of the
memory and the recall of the memory.

Another problem with decay theory is it does not account for why some
memories fade so quickly while others linger. Novelty is one factor that plays a
role in why some things are remembered while others are forgotten. For
example, you are more likely to remember your very first day of college than all
of the intervening days between it and graduation. That first day was new and
exciting, but all the following days probably seem quite similar to each other.

The Retrieval Failure Theory

Sometimes the memories are there, we just can't seem to access them. Two of
the basic reasons for this failure in memory retrieval are related to encoding
failures and lack of retrieval cues. A common reason why we don't remember
information is because it never made it into long term memory in the first place.
Try this well-known demonstration first used by researchers Nickerson and
Adams. From memory, try to draw the back side of a penny. Once you are done,
compare your drawing to an actual penny.

Are you surprised by how poorly you recalled what the back of a penny looks
like? While you probably had a good idea about the overall shape and color, the
actual details were probably pretty fuzzy. Why? Since you don't actually need to
know what the back of a penny looks like to differentiate it from other coins, you
only really focus on the information you do need - the overall size, shape, and
color of the coin. You aren't able to recall what the back of a penny really looks
like because that information was never really encoded into memory in the first
place.

The Cue-Dependent Theory of Forgetting

Other researchers have suggested that sometimes information is actually


present in memory, but that it cannot be recalled unless retrieval cues are
present. These cues are elements that were present at the time that the actual
memory was encoded. For example, remembering the details of your first date
with your spouse might be easier if you smell the same scent that your partner
was wearing on that first date. The retrieval cue (the perfume) was present
when that memory was created, so smelling it again can trigger the retrieval of
those memories.

Final Thoughts
Numerous theories exist to explain how and why we forget. In many situations,
several of these explanations might account for why we cannot remember. The
passage of time can make memories more difficult to access (decay theory),
while the abundance of information vying for our attention can create
competition between old and new memories (interference theory). While
forgetting is simply a part of life, there are a number of things that we can do to
improve our memories and become better at recalling information. Next, take a
closer look at some of the different things you can do now to improve your
memory.

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