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Directed Forgetting: Short-term Memory or Conditioned Response?

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Abstract

Previous researchers have interpreted the phenomenon of directed forgetting in terms of animal short-term memory and rehearsal. An alternative explanation-that directed forgetting is attributable to the response or nonresponse to a sequence of stimuli-is proposed and tested with rats. Rats were tested for directed forgetting using a variation of the standard directed forgetting task, in which the sample was followed by either a remember cue or a forget cue, and in which there was a second cue immediately before the presentation of the comparison stimuli. Results appear to support the memory and rehearsal explanation of directed forgetting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Technology, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, 43606, USA

    Wendy S. Miller & Harvard L. Armus

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  1. Wendy S. Miller
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  2. Harvard L. Armus
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Correspondence to Wendy S. Miller.

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Miller, W.S., Armus, H.L. Directed Forgetting: Short-term Memory or Conditioned Response?. Psychol Rec 49, 211–220 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395317

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395317

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