FORGETTING

AND THEORIES OF
FORGETTING

Mr. Shivaprasad Halemani

 TI N G
ET
FO RG
 FORGETTING
 Forgetting refers to the inability to retrieve
previously stored information.
 When you forget something it means that it is
unavailable to you at the time you are trying to
remember it, not that it is gone forever.
 The information may be stored in your memory
but for some reason you cannot retrieve it
when you want to.
 Forgetting is supposed to occur when the
information in LTM decays due to passage of
time or due to interference from other
material or due to the time elapsed
 FORGETTING
Definition:

According to Munn (1967) “Forgetting is the loss,

(temporary or Permanent) of the ability to recall or
recognize something learnt Earlier.”

According to Drever (1952) “Forgetting means failure

at any time To recall an experience, when attempting to
do so, or to perform an Action previously learnt.
 Types of Forgetting
• NATURAL FORGETTING

• MORBID or ABNORMAL FORGETTING

• GENERAL FORGETTING

• SPECIFIC FORGETTING

• PHYSICAL FORGETTING

• PSYCHOLOGICAL FORGETTING
THE FORGETTING CURVE
 A forgetting curve shows the pattern (rate
and amount) of forgetting that occurs over
time.

 Generally this curve shows that forgetting is

rapid at first, then the rate of memory loss
gradually declines as time passes.

 More than half of the memory loss occurs

within the first hour after learning.
THE FORGETTING CURVE
 You can see that
over half of what
is learnt is
forgotten in the
first hour

 Most of what we
forget (about
65% ) is lost in the
first 8 hours
CAUSES
 Ineffective coding
 Fading
 Interference
 Proactive: new memory interferes with old
memory
 Retroactive: old memory interferes with new
memory
 Displacement
 Unconscious forgetting
 Physical injury or trauma
 Changes in cues
THEORIES OF FORGETTING
 Psychologists have developed a number of
theories to explain why we forget.

 Forgetting may occur because:

 The right retrieval cue is not used.

 There is interference from competing material.
 There is some underlying motivation not to
remember.
 Memory fades through disuse.
RETRIEVAL FAILURE THEORY(LTM)

 Retrieval Failure Theory refers to when we

forget because we lack or fail to use the right
cues or prompts to retrieve what is stored in
our memory.

 This theory is often referred to as cue-

dependent forgetting and is a useful
explanation of why we sometimes fail to
retrieve information even when we’re sure we
know the information.
RETRIEVAL FAILURE THEORY
(LTM)
 Retrieval failure is where the information is in long
term memory, but cannot be accessed. 
 Such information is said to be available (i.e. it is still
stored) but not accessible (i.e. it cannot be retrieved).
It cannot be accessed because the retrieval cues are
not present.  When we store a new memory we also
store information about the situation and these are
known as retrieval cues.  When we come into the same
situation again, these retrieval cues can trigger the
memory of the situation. Retrieval cues can be:
 External / Context - in the environment, e.g. smell,
place etc.
 Internal / State- inside of us, e.g. physical, emotional,
mood, drunk etc.
 Getting a new bus
number and
INTERFERENCE THEORY forgetting old bus
number.
• Retroactive
Interference: new
information blocks out old
information.

• Proactive Interference:
old information blocks out
new information.

Calling your new girlfriend by old

girlfriends name.
THEORIES OF FORGETTING
 Two factors involved in forgetting:

 Accessibility: The information available can

be accessed at a specific time/place.

 Availability: The information is represented in

the memory.
THEORIES OF FORGETTING
 Freud:Repression, conscious process of
burying memories to protect ego.

 The emotions associated with the

repressed memory may be recovered, or
express themselves through:
 Dream Analysis.
 Hypnosis.
 Free Association.
TIP OF THE TONGUE
PHENOMENON
 Have you ever tried to recall a fact – perhaps
the name of an actor in a movie – that you’re
sure you know and feel just on the verge of
remembering?

 You know that you know the answer but can

not quite bring it forth.

 Psychologists call this the tip-of-the-tongue

phenomenon.
TIP OF THE TONGUE
PHENOMENON
 Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a state, or
‘feeling’, that occurs when individuals are
aware of knowing something, confident they
will eventually remember it, but aren’t able
to retrieve it from memory at that point in
time.

 When the sought after information is

recalled, its recall tends to occur suddenly,
often seeming to ‘pop’ out of memory.
TIP OF THE TONGUE
PHENOMENON
 These observations suggest that TOT involves
a partial retrieval process in which bits of
information can act as retrieval cues for the
required information, helping to ‘home in’
on this information.

 Furthermore, the observation that specific

bits or types of information assist in retrieval
indicates information in LTM is stored in an
organised way and in a variety of forms.
TIP OF THE TONGUE
PHENOMENON
 The TOT phenomenon is significant because
it illustrates several aspects of the retrieval
process.

 First it shows that retrieving is not an all-or-

nothing process.

 Second, information is stored in LTM but it is

not accessible without retrieval cues.

 Third, TOT experiences indicate that

information stored in LTM is organised and
connected in relatively logical ways.
DECAY THEORY(STM & LTM)
 Decay theory is based on an assumption that
when something new is learned, a physical
change or chemical trace of the experience
which contains the stored information is
formed in the brain.

 This is called memory trace and is believed

to gradually fade or disintegrate as time
passes unless it is reactivated by being used
again.
CLASSIC SHAPE OF THE FORGETTING
CURVE (WOODWORTH, 1938).
TRACE DECAY THEORY(STM &
LTM)
 Trace decay theory explains memories that are
stored in both short term and long term memory
system. According to this theory, short term
memory (STM) can only retain information for a
limited amount of time, around 15 to 30 seconds
unless it is rehearsed.
 If it is not rehearsed, the information will start
to gradually fade away and decay. Donald Heb
proposed that incoming information causes a
series of neurons to create a neurological
memory trace in the brain which would result in
change in the morphological and/or chemical
changes in the brain and would fade with time.
 Repeated firing causes a structural change in
the synapses. Rehearsal of repeated firing
maintains the memory in STM until a
structural change is made.
 Therefore, forgetting happens as a result of
automatic fading of the memory trace in
brain.
TRACE DECAY THEORY(STM &
LTM)
       One problem with the decay theory of
forgetting is that we do not know whether
the failure to recall something reflects that
it is no longer in our memory, or that it
reflects retrieval failure.  Perhaps it is still
there but we cannot retrieve the memory for
some reason.
CONCLUSIONS OF DECAY

 1)  Shape of the forgetting curve is greatly

influenced by the activities during the
retention interval.
 2)  The logarithmic function does not hold
for autobiographical memories.
 3)  Therefore, there is little evidence that
decay is the primary cause of loss of
information from long-term memory.
CONCLUSIONS ON FORGETTING

 Four different explanations:

 decay: minimal role in LTS forgetting
 consolidation: disruption occurs under
special circumstances
 interference theory: explains some
forgetting, but the mechanisms need work
 retrieval failure: richest, most complete
explanation, but may be circular.