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

定向遗忘指的是先前编码的信息可以被有意遗忘的发现。然而，到目前为止，人们还不清楚这种遗忘是短暂的还是持久的。本项目旨在填补这一经验空白。在第一步中，该项目检验定向遗忘是否在长时间的记忆间隔中持续存在，并在这方面不同于情境依赖性遗忘，正如几个记忆模型所表明的那样，情境依赖性遗忘应该是相当短暂的（实验1）。最近的一项研究提供了与这种观点一致的初步结果。在目前的研究项目中，这个单一的报告应该在概念上重复和推广到不同的实验程序。在第二步中，该项目检验了短期记忆间隔后定向遗忘的主要研究结果是否适用于长期记忆间隔。实验将显示偶然编码后的定向遗忘是否在延长的保留间隔中持续存在（实验2），定向遗忘是否在延长的保留间隔后继续依赖于干扰信息的新编码（实验3），学习和测试之间的分心任务类型是否影响遗忘的大小（实验4）。以及识别测试中定向遗忘的缺失是否仅限于较短的记忆间隔（实验5）。本项目的结果具有很高的实际意义，因为它们将为持久性内存更新提供见解。此外，这些结果具有很高的理论相关性，因为它们直接测试了定向遗忘如何通过非抑制性机制来解释。实验1给出了定向遗忘是否由于心理环境变化而产生的结论，而实验2-5则澄清了选择性地排练待记忆信息是否构成（持久的）定向遗忘的基础，或者可以通过抑制过程来解释。这个项目的发现将提供第一个关于定向遗忘持久性的广泛报告，并将使关于记忆更新背后的认知机制的重要结论成为可能。

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.