THEORIES OF FORGETFULNESS

 

Everyone experiences a failure of memory from time to time. You are sure you have seen that person before but cannot remember exactly where. This means you have forgotten some information about that person.

Forgetfulness can be defined as the complete loss of information from storage or an inability to retrieve what is stored in memory. Forgetting is the loss of ability to retrieve information from either the STM or the LTM. “Forgotten” does not necessarily mean gone forever. There are times we cannot retrieve a particular memory but it returns to us some time later. However evidence from shock gives us an understanding that we can lose information completely.

Forgetting is a problem that has plagued learners of memory. We do not, it seems forget only meaningless material; sometimes we forget things which are important to us. Psychologists would say, however, that important things, which have been actually learned, are never really forgotten; the problem may be in retrieval.

When information that once entered long-term memory is unable to be retrieved, it is said to be forgotten. Forgetting may involve decay, interference, or repression. Some inputs may fade away, or decay, over time. Items quickly decay in sensory storage and short-term memory, as indicated earlier. It is not certain, however, whether long-term memories can ever decay. We know that a blow to the head or electrical stimulation of certain parts of the brain can cause loss of memory. The memories lost, however, are the most recent ones; older memories seem to remain. The fact that apparently forgotten information can be recovered through meditation, hypnosis, or brain stimulation suggests that at least some memories never decay. Rather, interference or repression causes people to lose track of them.

Interference

Interference refers to a memory being blocked or erased by previous or subsequent memories. This blocking is of two kinds: proactive and retroactive. In proactive interference an earlier memory blocks you from remembering related new information. In retroactive interference a later memory or new information blocks you from remembering information learned earlier. Suppose you move to a new home. You now have to remember a new address and phone number. At first you may have trouble remembering them because the memory of your old address and phone number gets in the way (proactive interference).

Later, you know the new information but have trouble remembering the old data (retroactive interference). It is important to note that proactive interference does not lead to retroactive interference; the two are separate concepts.

It may be that interference actually does erase some memories permanently. In other cases the old data have not been lost. The information is in your memory somewhere, if only you could find it. According to Sigmund Freud, sometimes blocking is no accident. A person may subconsciously block memories of an embarrassing or frightening experience. This kind of forgetting is called repression. The material still exists in the person’s memory, but it has been made inaccessible because it is so disturbing.

Amnesia

Some people also forget information due to amnesia. Amnesia is a loss of memory that may occur after a blow to the head or as a result of brain damage. Amnesia may also be the result of drug use or severe psychological stress.

Infant amnesia is the relative lack of early declarative memories. For example, why is it that we do not seem to remember much from when we were 2 or 3 years old? Although some children do form lasting memories, most memories from early childhood seem to fade away.

Psychologists have proposed several theories to explain infant amnesia. Freud thought that infant memories are repressed because of the emotional traumas of infancy. Others believe that because infants do not yet understand language, their memories are nonverbal, whereas later memories are verbal (once language is learned). Still others claim that the hippocampus may not be mature enough in infancy to spark memories or that infants have not yet developed a sense of self to experience memories.

We all look at different things in different ways and we explain different ideas in different ways either. The theories likewise, explain different ways in which concepts are understood. It is in this logic that even the theories of forgetting were viewed divergently by various scholars.

The interference theory

This theory of forgetting says forgetting results from competing associations that lower the probability of the correct association being recalled, thus the material becomes associated with original stimulus. This means that current information is lost because it is mixed up with previously learned and similar information. Interference takes place when two learned items conflict, when some information interferes with the retrieval of other information. There are two types of interference.

(a)    Retroactive interference- refers to when previously learned information is lost because it is mixed up with new and somewhat similar information. New or recently learned information inhibits the recall of information learned earlier.

(b)   Proactive interference- occurs when new information is lost because it is mixed up with previously learned, similar information. Old information here interferes with learning new information.

Educational Implication

Among the most important suggestions for countering the effects of interference and increasing the ability to recall information are those involving teaching for transfer (also termed generalization). Transfer (or generalization) refers to the effects of old learning on new learning; transfer can be either positive or negative.

Positive transfer occurs when previous learning facilitates new learning and is sometimes evident in learning a second language. For example, it is easier to learn Spanish if you already know French than if you know only English. The similarities between French and Spanish facilitate positive transfer.

Negative transfer takes place when previous learning interferes with current learning; this is similar to proactive interference. For example, negative transfer occurs when I go to Bermuda, rent a motor scooter, and discover that people are driving on the left side of the street (actually, people over there ride on the right side of the street).

One way to teach for positive transfer while still eliminating negative transfer is to relate new material to old material, emphasizing similarities and differences. The similarities should facilitate positive transfer; knowledge of differences should minimize negative transfer.

The fading or decay theory

This is also known as Atrophy theory. Stored information wears out over time because of disuse. This is a biological process. The physiology of decay process is not known.

Traces that have been unused and inactive for a long time will scarcely be in prime metabolic condition. But as we grow old we tend to forget.

Fading theory states that material not brought to mind frequently enough or not used, tends to fade from memory.

In STM, fading occurs very rapidly. When information fades from working memory, it disappears because the short term space was needed for other incoming information.

Educational Implication:

If students forget information because of disuse, teachers can provide repetition and review to remind them of important items.

 The distortion theory

This theory refers to the misrepresentation of information that occurs when an imperfect image is recalled from long term memory.

Memories that do not entirely fade are often distorted or confused with other memories. As a result, when a person tries to recall the experience, only fragments of the episode is available, and it becomes impossible to remember how and when the fragments were acquired.

 Educational Implications

One way for teachers to help counter this distortion is to emphasize the most important and distinct (the most memorable) aspects of a situation. Features that are highly distinct will be more easily and more accurately remembered.

D.        The retrieval theory

This means that information cannot be recalled because there are no cues or hints or prompts to assist in recalling e.g. Mnemonics is a form of coding useful for remembering factual information, it is a device which brings information to mind e.g. BODMAS, SOCATOAS etc Mnemonics is effective in rote memorisation but in complex learning.

Some psychologists maintain that forgetting can be explained by the inability to retrieve from memory, rather than by simple memory loss, distortion, suppression, or interference.

In other words, individuals do not appear to remember simply because of what is termed retrieval cue failure. The “retrieval cue failure” refers to the inability to recall an item of information from memory.  

Educational Implication:

There is evidence that for declarative (semantic) information, i.e. the explicit, conscious sorts of learning with which schools are most concerned, certain types of retrieval cues are the most effective.

For example, Tulving (1989) reported that the most effective retrieval cues are those that closely match the type of recall in question.

Thus, if students will be asked to remember the meanings of words, then cues that emphasize meanings are best. In contrast, if they are to remember the spellings of words, cues that draw attention to letters are the most effective.

 

E. The suppression/repression theory

Suppression, a term derived from Freudian Repression entails that sometimes we forget because we want to suppress some unpleasant or threatening information from our memories. Freud however, says repressed memories filter in the subconscious mind where the individual is not aware of them but where they continue to have some effect on the person’s behaviour-thus the idea of unconscious motivation.

There is some evidence that people may forget events that are particularly unpleasant. One explanation for repression is Freud’s belief that unpleasant memories filter into the subconscious mind, where the individual is not aware of them even though they may continue to have a profound effect on the person’s emotional life.

Note: The information that is repressed is not forgotten completely because it is still in the LTM.

Educational Implication

Repression theory holds that memories of highly unpleasant (traumatic) events may be unconsciously repressed. Ideally, schools and teachers seldom provide students with experiences so horrendous that they end up being buried in an unconscious place.

F. Consolidation theory

Traces are in the form of an electric circuit .Traces code the experience. The trace must consolidate in order for the experience to be permanently stored.

The initial circuit is not strong; it is subject to easy disruption. Neuro electricity must travel round the circuit several times in order to consolidate the circuit. The process of neuro electricity travelling round many times is known as perseveration. Hence, the idea of revision by teachers and scholars. Revision is important because it helps to consolidate our memories.

We can clearly see from the above explanations that the inability to recall and retain the information leads to forgetting. It should be pointed out from the outset set that two important concepts have emerged from the consolidation theory and these are retention and memory trace. Let us define them.

You have so far looked at the reasons why learners forget what was previously learned, but what should come into your mind as well, is the fact that there are other factors that could influence or determine an individual to have a sound memory. Some of the factors are explained below:

FACTORS THAT LEAD TO GOOD MEMORY

(i)     Intelligence- people with high intelligence have generally better memory than those with lower intelligence. But a few people with normal intelligence have exceptional memories to recall many dates’ sports events that were amazing. These are inherited qualities we have little influence on.

(ii)   The nature of what is learned- it is difficult to remember things that have no meaning. We sub consciously try to get a grip of what we want to learn by reshaping it into a pattern we grasp. So teachers should try to teach in simpler language that is easily understandable.

(iii) The significance we place on what is learned we remember best the things that seem important to us and have significance. At times new things make us careful to take note of them.

(iv)  The method used for learning- good teaching methods makes concepts stick in learners’ minds for long period.

(v)    Environmental factors- distractions affect concentration, - worries, there are also circumstances that prevent practice and revision, repression brought about by some deep emotional experience can have the effect of eliminating totally the conscious recollection of some expression.

Note: the recentness and frequency of learning experiences also affect experience, the stronger the recall. This suggests that controlling the man develop the faculty we call memory better approaches the training of memory