Peter Delaney | University of North Carolina at Greensboro (original) (raw)

Books by Peter Delaney

Research paper thumbnail of What Psychology Majors Could (And Should) Be Doing: An Informal Guide to Research Experience and Professional Skills

More students are majoring in psychology than ever before--over 85,000 students graduate with psy... more More students are majoring in psychology than ever before--over 85,000 students graduate with psychology degrees each year--so competition for grad-school spots and good jobs is fierce. What are you doing to stand out from the other hundreds of thousands of psychology majors? If a good GPA is all you have to show for your years in college, you may be in trouble.

To go beyond the minimum, students could (and should) get involved in research, develop their scientific writing skills, attend conferences, join clubs and professional organizations, build a library of professional books, and present their research. By getting out of the classroom and actively participating in the real world of psychology, students can build skills that will prepare them for the competitive realms of graduate school and the workforce. Written in a lighthearted and humorous tone, this book shows both grad-school bound and career-bound students how to seek out and make the most of these opportunities.

Papers by Peter Delaney

Research paper thumbnail of Rote rehearsal and spacing effects in the free recall of pure and mixed lists

Journal of Memory and Language, 2008

The spacing effect is the commonly observed phenomenon that memory for spaced repetitions is bett... more The spacing effect is the commonly observed phenomenon that memory for spaced repetitions is better than memory for massed repetitions. To further investigate the role of rehearsal in spacing effects, three experiments were conducted. With pure lists we found spacing effects in free recall when spacing intervals were relatively long (Experiments 1, 2 and 3), but not when spacing intervals were relatively short (Experiments 2 and 3). In contrast, with mixed lists spacing effects emerged at both short spacing intervals and long spacing intervals (Experiment 3). Additional analyses on the combined pure-list data revealed that the correlation between the primacy advantage and the spacing effect in Quadrants 2 through 4 was positive for all-massed lists and negative for all-spaced lists. This provides some first evidence for the zero-sum nature of the spacing effect in pure lists. The need to incorporate assumptions about rehearsal in theories of spacing is discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Item-Specific Encoding Produces an Additional Benefit of Directed Forgetting: Evidence From Intrusion Errors

List-method directed forgetting involves encoding 2 lists, between which half of the participants... more List-method directed forgetting involves encoding 2 lists, between which half of the participants are told to forget List 1. When participants are free to study however they want, directed forgetting impairs List 1 recall and enhances List 2 recall in the forget group compared with a control remember group. In a large-scale experiment, the current work demonstrated that when item-specific encoding instructions were enforced during learning, directed forgetting impaired List 1 recall, but it did not enhance List 2 recall. This pattern was found regardless of whether encoding was incidental or intentional. Whenever directed forgetting did not enhance List 2 recall, it nevertheless reduced cross-list intrusions. These results indicate that directed forgetting can help differentiate memories from one another, thereby reducing intrusions from irrelevant competing memories.

Research paper thumbnail of Mental toughness, reinforcement sensitivity theory, and the five-factor model: Personality and directed forgetting

A recent study (Dewhurst, Anderson, Cotter, Crust, & Clough, 2012) proposed that mental toughness... more A recent study (Dewhurst, Anderson, Cotter, Crust, & Clough, 2012) proposed that mental toughness – a
personality construct from sports psychology that predicts many outcomes in sports and elsewhere –
reflected ability at inhibitory control. Specifically, they found that mental toughness predicted directed
forgetting, which measures peoples’ ability to forget things on purpose. We explored the relationships
between the short form of the mental toughness scale (the MT-18), other personality traits (the Big
Five and BIS/BAS), and directed forgetting. The correlation between mental toughness and directed forgetting
replicated. Including a control group with no forget instruction ruled out sustained effort on
memory tasks as an explanation; it was specific to directed forgetting. However, mental toughness
was shown to correlate with many other personality characteristics, and its effects on directed forgetting
were largely due to conscientiousness. We concluded that the basis of mental toughness was probably
not inhibitory control as the original authors had proposed.

Research paper thumbnail of Long-term working memory as an alternative to capacity models of working memory in everyday skilled performance

Models of working memory: …, Jan 1, 1999

Page 279. 8 Long-Term Working Memory as an Alternative to Capacity Models of Working Memory in Ev... more Page 279. 8 Long-Term Working Memory as an Alternative to Capacity Models of Working Memory in Everyday Skilled Performance K. ANDERS ERICSSON AND PETER F. DELANEY FIVE CENTRAL FEATURES OF THE THEORY ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Strategy‐Specific Nature of Improvement: The Power Law Applies by Strategy Within Task

Psychological …, Jan 1, 1998

Research paper thumbnail of Can encoding differences explain the benefits of directed forgetting in the list method paradigm?

Journal of Memory and Language, Jan 1, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Directed Forgetting in Incidental Learning and Recognition Testing: Support for a Two-Factor Account.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: …, Jan 1, 2005

Instructing people to forget a list of items often leads to better recall of subsequently studied... more Instructing people to forget a list of items often leads to better recall of subsequently studied lists (known as the benefits of directed forgetting). The authors have proposed that changes in study strategy are a central cause of the benefits (L. . The authors address 2 results from the literature that are inconsistent with their strategy-based explanation: (a) the presence of benefits under incidental learning conditions and (b) the absence of benefits in recognition testing. Experiment 1 showed that incidental learning attenuated the benefits compared with intentional learning, as expected if a change of study strategy causes the benefits. Experiment 2 demonstrated benefits using recognition testing, albeit only when longer lists were used. Memory for source in directed forgetting was also explored using multinomial modeling. Results are discussed in terms of a 2-factor account of directed forgetting.

Research paper thumbnail of Working memory and expert performance

Working memory and thinking, Jan 1, 1998

Page 99. CHAPTER SIX Working Memory and Expert Performance K. Anders Ericsson and Peter F. Delane... more Page 99. CHAPTER SIX Working Memory and Expert Performance K. Anders Ericsson and Peter F. Delaney Florida State University, USA Decades of research on performance in laboratory tasks have revealed general information ...

Research paper thumbnail of Uncovering the structure of a memorist's superior

Cognitive Psychology, Jan 1, 2004

After extensive laboratory testing of the famous memorist Rajan, proposed that he was innately en... more After extensive laboratory testing of the famous memorist Rajan, proposed that he was innately endowed with a superior memory capacity for digits and letters and thus violated the hypothesis that exceptional memory fully reflects acquired -skilled memory.‖ We successfully replicated the empirical phenomena that led them to their conclusions. From additional analyses and new experiments, we found support for an alternative hypothesis, namely that Rajan's superior memory for digits was mediated by learned encoding techniques that he acquired during nearly a thousand hours of practice memorizing the mathematical constant π. Our paper describes a general experimental approach for studying the structure of exceptional memory and how Rajan's unique structure is consistent with the general theoretical framework of long-term working memory .

Research paper thumbnail of Protocol analysis as a tool for behavior analysis

The Analysis of verbal behavior, Jan 1, 1998

Research paper thumbnail of Self-evaluation as a moderating factor of strategy change in directed forgetting benefits

Psychonomic bulletin & review, Jan 1, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Unexpected costs of high working memory capacity following directed forgetting and contextual change manipulations

Memory & cognition, Jan 1, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Immediate and Sustained Effects of Planning in a Problem-Solving Task.

Journal of Experimental …, Jan 1, 2004

In 4 experiments, instructions to plan a task (water jugs) that normally produces little planning... more In 4 experiments, instructions to plan a task (water jugs) that normally produces little planning altered how participants solved the problems and resulted in enhanced learning and memory. Experiment 1 identified planning strategies that allowed participants to plan full solutions to water jugs problems. Experiment 2 showed that experience with planning led to better solutions even after planning was no longer required, whereas control participants showed little improvement. Experiments 3 and 4 showed that although the most recent planned solution could be recalled following a long filled retention interval, retroactive interference (RI) between successive problems resulted in much lower recall of earlier solutions. RI during plan generation could also explain participants' choice of depth-first planning strategies.

Research paper thumbnail of Intentional forgetting is easier after two" shots" than one.

Journal of Experimental …, Jan 1, 2008

Are some things easier to deliberately forget than others? We will propose that the answer to thi... more Are some things easier to deliberately forget than others? We will propose that the answer to this question is yes and that the kinds of things easier to forget may provide important clues as to how intentional forgetting occurs. Such efforts are timely because there has been increasing interest in directed forgetting as part of a broader trend toward investigating inhibitory abilities. To date, published research has not addressed how recallability of an item influences the magnitude of directed forgetting-that is, if some things are easier to remember, how does the ease of remembering influence the magnitude of deliberate forgetting?

Research paper thumbnail of Encoding strategy changes and spacing effects in the free recall of unmixed lists

Journal of Memory and Language, Jan 1, 2005

Memory for repeated items often improves when repetitions are separated by other items-a phenomen... more Memory for repeated items often improves when repetitions are separated by other items-a phenomenon called the spacing effect. In two experiments, we explored the complex interaction between study strategies, serial position, and spacing effects. When people studied several unmixed lists, they initially used mainly rote rehearsal, but some people eventually adopted relational encoding strategies like creating a story from the items (Experiment 1). We observed overall spacing effects when participants used the story mnemonic, but not when they employed rote rehearsal strategies (Experiments 1 and 2). This occurred in part because the story mnemonic reduced or eliminated the usual recall advantage of immediately repeated items at the beginning of lists (Experiment 2).

Research paper thumbnail of Oh, honey, I already forgot that: Strategic control of directed forgetting in older and younger adults.

Psychology and aging, Jan 1, 2008

Two experiments investigated list-method directed forgetting with older and younger adults. Using... more Two experiments investigated list-method directed forgetting with older and younger adults. Using standard directed forgetting instructions, significant forgetting was obtained with younger but not older adults. However, in Experiment 1 older adults showed forgetting with an experimenter-provided strategy that induced a mental context change -- specifically, engaging in diversionary thought. Experiment 2 showed that age related differences in directed forgetting occurred because older adults were less likely than younger adults to initiate a strategy to attempt to forget. When the instructions were revised to downplay their concerns about memory, older adults engaged in effective forgetting strategies and showed significant directed forgetting comparable in magnitude to younger adults. The results highlight the importance of strategic processes in directed forgetting.

Research paper thumbnail of Memory as behavior: The importance of acquisition and remembering strategies

The Analysis of verbal behavior, Jan 1, 1998

The study of memory has traditionally been the province of cognitive psychology, which has postul... more The study of memory has traditionally been the province of cognitive psychology, which has postulated different memory systems that store memory traces to explain remembering. Behavioral psychologists have been unsuccessful at empirically identifying the behavior that occurs during remembering because so much of it occurs rapidly and covertly. In addition, behavior analysts have generally been disinterested in studying transient phenomena such as memory. As a result, the cognitive interpretation has been the only one that has made and tested useful predictions. Recent experimental evidence acquired while having participants "think aloud" suggests that a behavioral approach to memory may provide a superior account of memory performance and allow applied scientists to observe and modify memory-related behavior with well-known applied behavior-analytic techniques. We review evidence supporting and extending the interpretation of memory provided by Palmer (1991), who described memory in terms of precurrent behavior that occurs at the time of acquisition in preparation for problem solving that occurs at the time of remembering.

Research paper thumbnail of Lasting Reductions in Illegal Moves Following an Increase in Their Cost: Evidence From River-Crossing Problems.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: …, Jan 1, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Remembering to Forget: The Amnesic Effect of Daydreaming

Psychological …, Jan 1, 2010

Daydreaming mentally transports people to another place or time. Many daydreams are similar in co... more Daydreaming mentally transports people to another place or time. Many daydreams are similar in content to the thoughts that people generate when they intentionally try to forget. Thus, thoughts like those generated during daydreaming can cause forgetting of previously encoded events. We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis that daydreams that are more different from the current moment (e.g., in distance, time, or circumstance) will result in more forgetting than daydreams that are less different from the current moment, because they result in a greater contextual shift. Daydreaming was simulated in the laboratory via instructions to engage in a diversionary thought. Participants learned a list of words, were asked to think about autobiographical memories, and then learned a second list of words. They tended to forget more words from the first list when they thought about their parents' home than when they thought about their current home (Experiment 1). They also tended to forget more when they thought about an international vacation than when they thought about a domestic vacation (Experiment 2). These results support a context-change account of the amnesic effects of daydreaming.

Research paper thumbnail of What Psychology Majors Could (And Should) Be Doing: An Informal Guide to Research Experience and Professional Skills

More students are majoring in psychology than ever before--over 85,000 students graduate with psy... more More students are majoring in psychology than ever before--over 85,000 students graduate with psychology degrees each year--so competition for grad-school spots and good jobs is fierce. What are you doing to stand out from the other hundreds of thousands of psychology majors? If a good GPA is all you have to show for your years in college, you may be in trouble.

To go beyond the minimum, students could (and should) get involved in research, develop their scientific writing skills, attend conferences, join clubs and professional organizations, build a library of professional books, and present their research. By getting out of the classroom and actively participating in the real world of psychology, students can build skills that will prepare them for the competitive realms of graduate school and the workforce. Written in a lighthearted and humorous tone, this book shows both grad-school bound and career-bound students how to seek out and make the most of these opportunities.

Research paper thumbnail of Rote rehearsal and spacing effects in the free recall of pure and mixed lists

Journal of Memory and Language, 2008

The spacing effect is the commonly observed phenomenon that memory for spaced repetitions is bett... more The spacing effect is the commonly observed phenomenon that memory for spaced repetitions is better than memory for massed repetitions. To further investigate the role of rehearsal in spacing effects, three experiments were conducted. With pure lists we found spacing effects in free recall when spacing intervals were relatively long (Experiments 1, 2 and 3), but not when spacing intervals were relatively short (Experiments 2 and 3). In contrast, with mixed lists spacing effects emerged at both short spacing intervals and long spacing intervals (Experiment 3). Additional analyses on the combined pure-list data revealed that the correlation between the primacy advantage and the spacing effect in Quadrants 2 through 4 was positive for all-massed lists and negative for all-spaced lists. This provides some first evidence for the zero-sum nature of the spacing effect in pure lists. The need to incorporate assumptions about rehearsal in theories of spacing is discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Item-Specific Encoding Produces an Additional Benefit of Directed Forgetting: Evidence From Intrusion Errors

List-method directed forgetting involves encoding 2 lists, between which half of the participants... more List-method directed forgetting involves encoding 2 lists, between which half of the participants are told to forget List 1. When participants are free to study however they want, directed forgetting impairs List 1 recall and enhances List 2 recall in the forget group compared with a control remember group. In a large-scale experiment, the current work demonstrated that when item-specific encoding instructions were enforced during learning, directed forgetting impaired List 1 recall, but it did not enhance List 2 recall. This pattern was found regardless of whether encoding was incidental or intentional. Whenever directed forgetting did not enhance List 2 recall, it nevertheless reduced cross-list intrusions. These results indicate that directed forgetting can help differentiate memories from one another, thereby reducing intrusions from irrelevant competing memories.

Research paper thumbnail of Mental toughness, reinforcement sensitivity theory, and the five-factor model: Personality and directed forgetting

A recent study (Dewhurst, Anderson, Cotter, Crust, & Clough, 2012) proposed that mental toughness... more A recent study (Dewhurst, Anderson, Cotter, Crust, & Clough, 2012) proposed that mental toughness – a
personality construct from sports psychology that predicts many outcomes in sports and elsewhere –
reflected ability at inhibitory control. Specifically, they found that mental toughness predicted directed
forgetting, which measures peoples’ ability to forget things on purpose. We explored the relationships
between the short form of the mental toughness scale (the MT-18), other personality traits (the Big
Five and BIS/BAS), and directed forgetting. The correlation between mental toughness and directed forgetting
replicated. Including a control group with no forget instruction ruled out sustained effort on
memory tasks as an explanation; it was specific to directed forgetting. However, mental toughness
was shown to correlate with many other personality characteristics, and its effects on directed forgetting
were largely due to conscientiousness. We concluded that the basis of mental toughness was probably
not inhibitory control as the original authors had proposed.

Research paper thumbnail of Long-term working memory as an alternative to capacity models of working memory in everyday skilled performance

Models of working memory: …, Jan 1, 1999

Page 279. 8 Long-Term Working Memory as an Alternative to Capacity Models of Working Memory in Ev... more Page 279. 8 Long-Term Working Memory as an Alternative to Capacity Models of Working Memory in Everyday Skilled Performance K. ANDERS ERICSSON AND PETER F. DELANEY FIVE CENTRAL FEATURES OF THE THEORY ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Strategy‐Specific Nature of Improvement: The Power Law Applies by Strategy Within Task

Psychological …, Jan 1, 1998

Research paper thumbnail of Can encoding differences explain the benefits of directed forgetting in the list method paradigm?

Journal of Memory and Language, Jan 1, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Directed Forgetting in Incidental Learning and Recognition Testing: Support for a Two-Factor Account.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: …, Jan 1, 2005

Instructing people to forget a list of items often leads to better recall of subsequently studied... more Instructing people to forget a list of items often leads to better recall of subsequently studied lists (known as the benefits of directed forgetting). The authors have proposed that changes in study strategy are a central cause of the benefits (L. . The authors address 2 results from the literature that are inconsistent with their strategy-based explanation: (a) the presence of benefits under incidental learning conditions and (b) the absence of benefits in recognition testing. Experiment 1 showed that incidental learning attenuated the benefits compared with intentional learning, as expected if a change of study strategy causes the benefits. Experiment 2 demonstrated benefits using recognition testing, albeit only when longer lists were used. Memory for source in directed forgetting was also explored using multinomial modeling. Results are discussed in terms of a 2-factor account of directed forgetting.

Research paper thumbnail of Working memory and expert performance

Working memory and thinking, Jan 1, 1998

Page 99. CHAPTER SIX Working Memory and Expert Performance K. Anders Ericsson and Peter F. Delane... more Page 99. CHAPTER SIX Working Memory and Expert Performance K. Anders Ericsson and Peter F. Delaney Florida State University, USA Decades of research on performance in laboratory tasks have revealed general information ...

Research paper thumbnail of Uncovering the structure of a memorist's superior

Cognitive Psychology, Jan 1, 2004

After extensive laboratory testing of the famous memorist Rajan, proposed that he was innately en... more After extensive laboratory testing of the famous memorist Rajan, proposed that he was innately endowed with a superior memory capacity for digits and letters and thus violated the hypothesis that exceptional memory fully reflects acquired -skilled memory.‖ We successfully replicated the empirical phenomena that led them to their conclusions. From additional analyses and new experiments, we found support for an alternative hypothesis, namely that Rajan's superior memory for digits was mediated by learned encoding techniques that he acquired during nearly a thousand hours of practice memorizing the mathematical constant π. Our paper describes a general experimental approach for studying the structure of exceptional memory and how Rajan's unique structure is consistent with the general theoretical framework of long-term working memory .

Research paper thumbnail of Protocol analysis as a tool for behavior analysis

The Analysis of verbal behavior, Jan 1, 1998

Research paper thumbnail of Self-evaluation as a moderating factor of strategy change in directed forgetting benefits

Psychonomic bulletin & review, Jan 1, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Unexpected costs of high working memory capacity following directed forgetting and contextual change manipulations

Memory & cognition, Jan 1, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Immediate and Sustained Effects of Planning in a Problem-Solving Task.

Journal of Experimental …, Jan 1, 2004

In 4 experiments, instructions to plan a task (water jugs) that normally produces little planning... more In 4 experiments, instructions to plan a task (water jugs) that normally produces little planning altered how participants solved the problems and resulted in enhanced learning and memory. Experiment 1 identified planning strategies that allowed participants to plan full solutions to water jugs problems. Experiment 2 showed that experience with planning led to better solutions even after planning was no longer required, whereas control participants showed little improvement. Experiments 3 and 4 showed that although the most recent planned solution could be recalled following a long filled retention interval, retroactive interference (RI) between successive problems resulted in much lower recall of earlier solutions. RI during plan generation could also explain participants' choice of depth-first planning strategies.

Research paper thumbnail of Intentional forgetting is easier after two" shots" than one.

Journal of Experimental …, Jan 1, 2008

Are some things easier to deliberately forget than others? We will propose that the answer to thi... more Are some things easier to deliberately forget than others? We will propose that the answer to this question is yes and that the kinds of things easier to forget may provide important clues as to how intentional forgetting occurs. Such efforts are timely because there has been increasing interest in directed forgetting as part of a broader trend toward investigating inhibitory abilities. To date, published research has not addressed how recallability of an item influences the magnitude of directed forgetting-that is, if some things are easier to remember, how does the ease of remembering influence the magnitude of deliberate forgetting?

Research paper thumbnail of Encoding strategy changes and spacing effects in the free recall of unmixed lists

Journal of Memory and Language, Jan 1, 2005

Memory for repeated items often improves when repetitions are separated by other items-a phenomen... more Memory for repeated items often improves when repetitions are separated by other items-a phenomenon called the spacing effect. In two experiments, we explored the complex interaction between study strategies, serial position, and spacing effects. When people studied several unmixed lists, they initially used mainly rote rehearsal, but some people eventually adopted relational encoding strategies like creating a story from the items (Experiment 1). We observed overall spacing effects when participants used the story mnemonic, but not when they employed rote rehearsal strategies (Experiments 1 and 2). This occurred in part because the story mnemonic reduced or eliminated the usual recall advantage of immediately repeated items at the beginning of lists (Experiment 2).

Research paper thumbnail of Oh, honey, I already forgot that: Strategic control of directed forgetting in older and younger adults.

Psychology and aging, Jan 1, 2008

Two experiments investigated list-method directed forgetting with older and younger adults. Using... more Two experiments investigated list-method directed forgetting with older and younger adults. Using standard directed forgetting instructions, significant forgetting was obtained with younger but not older adults. However, in Experiment 1 older adults showed forgetting with an experimenter-provided strategy that induced a mental context change -- specifically, engaging in diversionary thought. Experiment 2 showed that age related differences in directed forgetting occurred because older adults were less likely than younger adults to initiate a strategy to attempt to forget. When the instructions were revised to downplay their concerns about memory, older adults engaged in effective forgetting strategies and showed significant directed forgetting comparable in magnitude to younger adults. The results highlight the importance of strategic processes in directed forgetting.

Research paper thumbnail of Memory as behavior: The importance of acquisition and remembering strategies

The Analysis of verbal behavior, Jan 1, 1998

The study of memory has traditionally been the province of cognitive psychology, which has postul... more The study of memory has traditionally been the province of cognitive psychology, which has postulated different memory systems that store memory traces to explain remembering. Behavioral psychologists have been unsuccessful at empirically identifying the behavior that occurs during remembering because so much of it occurs rapidly and covertly. In addition, behavior analysts have generally been disinterested in studying transient phenomena such as memory. As a result, the cognitive interpretation has been the only one that has made and tested useful predictions. Recent experimental evidence acquired while having participants "think aloud" suggests that a behavioral approach to memory may provide a superior account of memory performance and allow applied scientists to observe and modify memory-related behavior with well-known applied behavior-analytic techniques. We review evidence supporting and extending the interpretation of memory provided by Palmer (1991), who described memory in terms of precurrent behavior that occurs at the time of acquisition in preparation for problem solving that occurs at the time of remembering.

Research paper thumbnail of Lasting Reductions in Illegal Moves Following an Increase in Their Cost: Evidence From River-Crossing Problems.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: …, Jan 1, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Remembering to Forget: The Amnesic Effect of Daydreaming

Psychological …, Jan 1, 2010

Daydreaming mentally transports people to another place or time. Many daydreams are similar in co... more Daydreaming mentally transports people to another place or time. Many daydreams are similar in content to the thoughts that people generate when they intentionally try to forget. Thus, thoughts like those generated during daydreaming can cause forgetting of previously encoded events. We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis that daydreams that are more different from the current moment (e.g., in distance, time, or circumstance) will result in more forgetting than daydreams that are less different from the current moment, because they result in a greater contextual shift. Daydreaming was simulated in the laboratory via instructions to engage in a diversionary thought. Participants learned a list of words, were asked to think about autobiographical memories, and then learned a second list of words. They tended to forget more words from the first list when they thought about their parents' home than when they thought about their current home (Experiment 1). They also tended to forget more when they thought about an international vacation than when they thought about a domestic vacation (Experiment 2). These results support a context-change account of the amnesic effects of daydreaming.

Research paper thumbnail of Item-specific encoding produces an additional benefit of directed forgetting: Evidence from intrusion errors.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: …, Jan 1, 2010

List-method directed forgetting involves encoding 2 lists, between which half of the participants... more List-method directed forgetting involves encoding 2 lists, between which half of the participants are told to forget List 1. When participants are free to study however they want, directed forgetting impairs List 1 recall and enhances List 2 recall in the forget group compared with a control remember group. In a large-scale experiment, the current work demonstrated that when item-specific encoding instructions were enforced during learning, directed forgetting impaired List 1 recall, but it did not enhance List 2 recall. This pattern was found regardless of whether encoding was incidental or intentional. Whenever directed forgetting did not enhance List 2 recall, it nevertheless reduced cross-list intrusions. These results indicate that directed forgetting can help differentiate memories from one another, thereby reducing intrusions from irrelevant competing memories.