ABSTRACT

Two experiments examined the effects of directed (intentional) forgetting on information processed for its survival value. Experiment 1 used the list-method directed forgetting procedure in which items processed for their relevance to survival, moving house or pleasantness were followed by the cue to remember or forget. Following the encoding of a second list, free-recall of both lists showed that survival encoding brought about greater remembering (after the remember cue) and forgetting (after the forget cue). Experiment 2 also used the list-method and manipulated mental context reinstatement prior to recall. Although this manipulation was effective in enhancing memory, more directed forgetting was again shown in the survival condition. In both experiments the effects of survival processing were shown also in free-recall “remember” (vs. “know”) responses, indicative of the retrieval of associative or contextual details. The mechanisms that might underpin these were evaluated and considered in relation to future work.

摘要

两个实验检验了定向（有意）遗忘对为其生存价值而处理的信息的影响。实验 1 使用列表法定向遗忘程序，其中处理与生存、搬家或愉悦的相关性的项目，然后是记住或忘记的提示。在对第二个列表进行编码之后，对两个列表的自由回忆表明，生存编码带来了更大的记忆（在记住提示之后）和遗忘（在忘记提示之后）。实验 2 还使用了列表方法和在回忆之前操纵的心理上下文恢复。虽然这种操作在增强记忆方面是有效的，但在生存条件下再次表现出更多的定向遗忘。在这两个实验中，生存加工的影响也显示在自由回忆“记忆”（vs. “知道”）响应，表示检索关联或上下文细节。在未来的工作中评估和考虑了可能支持这些的机制。