When information is retrieved from memory, it becomes more recallable than it would have been otherwise. Other information associated with the same cue or configuration of cues, however, becomes less recallable. Such retrieval-induced forgetting (Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994) appears to reflect the suppression of competing nontarget information, with this suppression facilitating the selection of target information. But is success at such selection a necessary condition for retrieval-induced forgetting? Using a procedure in which some cues posed an impossible retrieval task for participants, we report evidence that the attempt to retrieve, even if unsuccessful, can produce retrieval-induced forgetting. This finding, we believe, supports and refines a suppression/inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting.

The present research assessed the potential effects of expecting to teach on learning. In two experiments, participants studied passages either in preparation for a later test or in preparation for teaching the passage to another student who would then be tested. In reality, all participants were tested, and no one actually engaged in teaching. Participants expecting to teach produced more complete and better organized free recall of the passage (Experiment 1) and, in general, correctly answered more questions about the passage than did participants expecting a test (Experiment 1), particularly questions covering main points (Experiment 2), consistent with their having engaged in more effective learning strategies. Instilling an expectation to teach thus seems to be a simple, inexpensive intervention with the potential to increase learning efficiency at home and in the classroom.

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Retrieving an item or set of items from memory can cause the forgetting of other related items in memory; a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting. According to the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting, in searching for a particular item, other items that are related but incorrect can vie for access. Inhibition functions to decrease the accessibility of such interfering items, thereby facilitating access to the target item. Experiments 1 and 2 replicated recent work suggesting that retrieval success is not a necessary condition for retrieval-induced forgetting to occur. Interfering items were forgotten even when retrieval practice was designed to be impossible. Experiments 3 and 4 employed the impossible retrieval practice procedure to examine the time-course of forgetting across a single retrieval practice trial. Results support the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting and offer insight into the dynamics of how and when inhibition plays a role in retrieval.

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