Intentional Forgetting: Interdisciplinary Approaches

by Golding; Jonathan M.

• ISBN13: 9780805822113
• ISBN10: 0805822119
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-10-01
• Publisher: Psychology Pres

Summary

Research on intentional forgetting has been conducted in various forms and under various names for at least 30 years, but until now no effort has been made to present these different perspectives in one place. Comprising both review chapters and new empirical studies, this book brings together the many research paradigms investigating intentional forgetting, thereby highlighting the commonalities that link these seemingly disparate areas of research. It serves as a "case study" of one phenomenon in memory--the intention to forget or to modify memory. Why is research on intentional forgetting important? It helps to increase the understanding of how memory functions, especially with regard to its updating. In William James' "booming, buzzing confusion," we frequently are unable to adequately process all of the information that we experience; on-line forgetting of some information is necessary. Moreover, we must often replace existing information with new information, as when someone we know relocates and acquires a new address and telephone number. Investigating this updating ability has been the main thrust of research on intentional forgetting, specifically those studies on the directed forgetting phenomenon. Cognitive experiments on directed forgetting have shown that we are able to deal more effectively with large amounts of information by following instructions to treat some of the information as "to be forgotten." In this way, interference is reduced and we are able to devote all of our resources to the remaining to-be-remembered information. The mechanisms that lead to this reduction continue to promote new experiments, but over a quarter century of research maintains that the directed forgetting effect is robust.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
1 Directed Forgetting	1	(58)
Colin M. MacLeod
2 There's More to Intentional Forgetting Than Directed Forgetting: An Integrative Review	59	(44)
Jonathan M. Golding
Debra L. Long
3 Varieties of Goal-Directed Forgetting	103	(36)
Elizabeth Ligon Bjork
Robert A. Bjork
Michael C. Anderson
4 Directed Forgetting: A Contrast of Methods and Interpretations	139	(34)
Barbara H. Basden
David R. Basden
5 Directed Forgetting and Rehearsal on Direct and Indirect Memory Tests	173	(24)
Scott W. Allen
John R. Vokey
6 An Illusion of Retrieval Inhibition: Directed Forgetting and Implicit Memory	197	(22)
Jerry Hauselt
7 Disregarding Information in Text	219	(20)
Hollyn M. Johnson
8 Directed Forgetting in Pigeons	239	(26)
Douglas S. Grant
9 A Critical Analysis of Directed-Forgetting Research in Animals	265	(24)
Thomas R. Zentall
Karen L. Roper
Daren H. Kaiser
Lou M. Sherburne
10 Consequences of Attempts to Disregard Social Information	289	(32)
Linda M. Isbell
Heidi L. Smith
Robert S. Wyer, Jr.
11 Suspicion and Discounting: Ignoring Invalid Information in an Uncertain Environment	321	(28)
Yaacov Schul
Eugene Bernstein
12 Disregarding Social Stereotypes: Implications for Memory, Judgment, and Behavior	349	(20)
Galen V. Bodenhausen
C. Neil Macrae
Alan B. Milne
13 Instructions to Disregard Potentially Useful Unshared Information in a Group Context	369	(26)
Jonathan M. Golding
Alan L. Ellis
Jerry Hauselt
Sandra A. Sego
14 Intentional Forgetting and Clinical Disorders	395	(18)
Marylene Cloitre
15 Instructions to Disregard and the Jury: Curative and Paradoxical Effects	413	(22)
Saul M. Kassin
Christina A. Studebaker
16 "The Jury Will Disregard...": A Brief Guide to Inadmissible Evidence	435	(18)
William C. Thompson
Juliana Fuqua
17 Intentional Forgetting in Perspective: Comments, Conjectures, and Some Directed Remembering	453	(30)
Robert A. Bjork
Author Index	483	(12)
Subject Index	495