Silence Is Not Golden: A Case for Socially-Shared Retrieval-Induced Forgetting.

Author(s)

Alex Cuc, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Wiliam Hirst, New School for Social Research
J. Koppel

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2007

Publication Title

Psychological Science

Volume

18

Issue/Number

8

First Page

727

ISSN

0956-7976

Last Page

733

Abstract/Excerpt

The present research explored the effect of selective remembering and the resulting "silences" on memory. In particular, we examined whether unmentioned information is more likely to be forgotten by a listener if related information is recollected by the speaker than if related information is not recollected by the speaker. In a modification of the retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm, pairs of individuals studied material, but in the practice phase, only one member of each pair selectively recalled it, while the other listened. Experiment 1 employed paired associates, and Experiment 2 used stories. Experiment 3 involved not controlled practice, but free-flowing conversation. In each case, results from a final memory test established not only within-individual retrieval-induced forgetting, but also socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting. The results demonstrate that listening to a speaker remember selectively can induce forgetting of related information in the listener.

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01967.x

NSUWorks Citation

Cuc, A., Hirst, W., Koppel, J. (2007). Silence Is Not Golden: A Case for Socially-Shared Retrieval-Induced Forgetting.. Psychological Science, 18(8), 727-733.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/583