Directed forgetting after short and long retention intervals: A test of noninhibitory accounts

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Directed forgetting refers to the finding that previously encoded information can be intentionally forgotten. Yet, to date, it remains largely unclear whether this forgetting is transient or lasting. This project aims at filling this empirical gap. In a first step, the project examines whether directed forgetting persists across prolonged retention intervals and differs from context-dependent forgetting in this respect, which, as suggested by several models of memory, should be rather transient (Experiment 1). A recent study provides first results consistent with such a view. Within the present research project, this single report shall be conceptually replicated and generalized to different experimental procedures. In a second step, the project examines if central findings from the literature on directed forgetting after short retention intervals generalize to prolonged retention intervals. The experiments will show whether directed forgetting after incidental encoding persists across prolonged retention intervals (Experiment 2), whether directed forgetting continues to depend on new encoding of interfering information after prolonged retention intervals (Experiment 3), whether type of distractor task between study and test affects the size of the forgetting (Experiment 4), and whether the absence of directed forgetting in recognition tests is limited to short retention intervals (Experiment 5). The results of the present project are of high practical relevance, because they will provide insights into how persistent memory updating is. In addition, the results are of high theoretical relevance, because they directly test how well directed forgetting can be explained via noninhibitory mechanisms. Experiment 1 allows conclusions about whether directed forgetting arises due to mental context change, whereas Experiments 2-5 clarify whether selective rehearsal of to-be-remembered information underlies (long-lasting) directed forgetting, or can alternatively be explained via inhibitory processes. The findings of this project will provide a first extensive report on the persistence of directed forgetting and will enable important conclusions about the cognitive mechanisms underlying memory updating.