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Forgetting: Why We Can't Remember
Encoding Failure: The information never got into memory in the first place due to lack of attention or interference.
Storage Decay: Memories fade over time if not used.
Ebbinghaus' Forgetting Curve
Shows a rapid initial decline in memory, followed by a slower rate of forgetting over time.
Retrieval Failure: The information is stored in memory, but you can't access it.
Interference: When Memories Collide
Proactive Interference: Older memories interfere with remembering new information.
Retroactive Interference: New information interferes with remembering old information.
Forgetting and Memory Distortion
Sleep and Memory: Sleep helps prevent retroactive interference, improving memory consolidation. Tip: Study before bed!
Motivated Forgetting (Freud): We may unconsciously forget things we don't want to remember.
Repression (Freud): Pushing anxiety-provoking thoughts and memories into the unconscious mind.
Suppression: Consciously trying to forget something.
Mass Practice (Cramming): Studying for long periods without breaks. Less effective for long-term retention than spaced practice.
Other Important Concepts
Source Monitoring: Remembering where you learned information.
Memory Construction and Errors
Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event. Example: Witnesses to a car accident might misremember details after hearing others' accounts.
Source Amnesia (Misattribution): Remembering information but forgetting where it came from.
False Memories (Elizabeth Loftus): Memories can be implanted or created through suggestion. Basically, memories of events that never actually happened, often created through suggestion or imagination.
Eyewitness Testimony: Why It's Not Always Reliable
Memory is Reconstructive: We fill in gaps with our own assumptions and biases.
Leading Questions: Can influence how witnesses remember an event.
Memory Fades Over Time: Details become less accurate.
Age: Children and older adults may be more susceptible to memory errors.
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