Towards augmented human memory: Retrieval-induced forgetting and retrieval practice in an interactive, end-of-day review.

Abstract

The authors report 6 experiments that examined the contention that an end-of-day review could lead to augmentation in human memory. In Experiment 1, participants in the study phase were presented with a campus tour of different to-be-remembered objects in different university locations. Each to-be-remembered object was presented with an associated specific comment. Participants were then shown the location name and photographs of half of the objects from half of the locations, and they were asked to try to name the object and recall the associated comment specific to each item. Following a filled delay, participants were presented with the name of each campus location and were asked to free recall the to-be-remembered objects. Relative to the recall from the unpracticed location categories, participants recalled the names of significantly more objects that they practiced (retrieval practice) and significantly fewer unpracticed objects from the practiced locations (retrieval-induced forgetting, RIF). These findings were replicated in Experiment 2 using a campus scavenger hunt in which participants selected their own stimuli from experimenter’s categories. Following an examination of factors that maximized the effects of RIF and retrieval practice in the laboratory (Experiment 3), the authors applied these findings to the campus scavenger hunt task to create different retrieval practice schedules to maximize and minimize recall of items based on experimenter-selected (Experiment 4) and participant-selected items using both category-cued free recall (Experiment 5) and item-specific cues (Experiment 6). Their findings support the claim that an interactive, end-of-day review could lead to augmentation in human memory.

Effects of Photographic Reviews on Recollections of the Personal Past: A New Perspective on Benefits and Costs

“…Thus, reviewing photographs over multiple occasions, like other forms of retrieval re-encodings, might lead to benefits but also costs. Studies included in the current review that examine retrieval-induced forgetting effects accompanying photographic reviews (i.e., Cinel et al, 2018;Koutstaal et al, 1999) are consistent with this possibility. As such, the findings bolster the case for further study of the effects of repeated photographic reviews.…”

“…Features of the photographic review experience can also impact memory. When photographic reviews are limited to a subset of photographed events, memory costs follow (Cinel et al, 2018;Koutstaal et al, 1999). In one study college-age adults performed several actions such as hammering a nail into a block of wood or pouring a small number of beans into a glass container.…”

Specificity of working memory mechanisms in individuals

“…In WM, there are multidirectional mechanisms that ultimately determine the volume of memorized material. The most discussed mechanisms operating in WM are retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) and retrieval-based learning (RBL) [8,9]. RIF means worsening of retrieval of subsequent stimuli as a result of retrieval of some preceding stimuli which are close to them by some parameter There is no common understanding of the RIF mechanism.…”

Third-person perspectives in photographs influence visual and spatial perspectives during subsequent memory retrieval

“…However, reviewing photographs can also have detrimental effects on memory (e.g., Cinel, Cortis Mack, & Ward, 2018;Lindsay, Hagen, Read, Wade, & Garry, 2004;Strange, Hayne, & Garry, 2008;Wade, Garry, Read, & Lindsay, 2002). Memory retrieval is an active process that can update memories but also contribute to biases and other distortions when new information presented during retrieval becomes confused with old information (Hupbach, Gomez, Hardt, & Nadel, 2007;St Jacques, Olm, & Schacter, 2013) (for review see Schacter, Guerin, & St. Jacques, 2011).…”