Retrieval-induced forgetting in a social context: Do the same mechanisms underlie forgetting in speakers and listeners?

Selectively retrieving details from memory can result in forgetting related information, a finding known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). The effect has mostly been examined in individuals, but RIF can also be socially transmitted and arise in listeners who are exposed to a speaker's selective...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Memory & Cognition Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 1 - 16
Autores principales: Abel, Magdalena, Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Jan2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Selectively retrieving details from memory can result in forgetting related information, a finding known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). The effect has mostly been examined in individuals, but RIF can also be socially transmitted and arise in listeners who are exposed to a speaker's selective memory retrieval. Whether within-individual RIF (WI-RIF) in speakers and socially shared RIF (SS-RIF) in listeners arise on the basis of the same cognitive mechanisms is unclear, however. In four experiments, we assessed both WI-RIF and SS-RIF while varying final test format to examine the potential involvement of output interference, strength-based blocking, and inhibition. WI-RIF and, to a similar degree, SS-RIF were observed on cued-recall tests with and without controlled output order at test, indicating that output interference cannot account for the observed forgetting. In contrast, SS-RIF was reduced relative to WI-RIF on tests of item recognition. These findings are consistent with the view that inhibition and blocking contribute to both WI-RIF and SS-RIF, but that the contribution of inhibition is reduced in listeners relative to speakers.