Developmental psychology.pdf

Memory 257
10. Forgetting apparently can occur even when the memory trace remains. In
repressive forgetting, it is hypothesized that unpleasant thoughts are
unconsciously excluded from awareness, an outcome sometimes called
motivated forgetting. This problem is a retrieval failure.
Principles of Memorizing
11. Motivation is a most important aspect of successful memory. The Zeigarnik
effect indicates that forgetting may be very rapid when one has no desire to
remember, and overlearning shows that through extra effort one can build
up resistance to forgetting.
12. For retrieval of a memory, appropriate cues are needed. The method of loci
illustrates these cues, as does the peg word system.
Critical Terms
Transmitter substance
Hippocampus
Reappearance hypothesis
Reconstruction hypothesis
Memory trace
Recall
Recognition
Relearning
Sensory register
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Encoding
Decay theory
Consolidation theory
Interference theory
Repressive forgetting
Zeigarnik effect
Method of loci
Cross References
Memory Stages and Processes (238). The concept of information processing is
also central to much research on thinking (213).
Interference Theory (246). Proactive and retroactive inhibition are related to
negative transfer. The former is concerned with prior influences that disrupt
memory; the latter involves current influences that retard learning (279).
Repressive Forgetting (249). Repression is the second stage in a three-step
sequence of unconscious motivation, according to psychoanalysis (337).
Suggested Readings
Klatzky, R. L, (1980). Human memory: Structures and processes
(2nd ed.). San Francisco: W. H. Freeman. A readable presentation.
Reason, J., & Mycielska, K. (1982). Absent-minded? The psychology of
mental lapses and everyday errors. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Combines examples from research, and daily life.
Seamon, J. G. (Ed.) (1980). Human memory: Contemporary readings.
New York: Oxford Press. Designed for advanced undergraduate courses.
Wingfield, A., & Byrnes, D. L. (1981). The psychology of human memory.
New York: Academic Press. An introductory text.
Zusne, L., & Jones, W. H. (1982). Anomalistic psychology: A study of
extraordinary phenomena of behavior and experience. Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum Associates. Includes a chapter on memory, as well as others on
psychophysiology, occultism, and group phenomena.