4 Explanations for Forgetting
When was the last time you forgot to return a call or couldn't remember where you left your car keys? Chances are strong that it wasn't very long ago. Forgetting is a surprising common occurrence, but it can sometimes be difficult to understand why we forget. Students often find themselves staring at a fill-in-the-blank question on an exam, absolutely sure that that information is somewhere in their brains and yet they are unable to remember the answer.
Learn more about some of the reasons why we forget. Photo courtesy Courtney Icenhour
What are some of the major reasons why we forget information? One of today's best known memory researchers, Elizabeth Loftus, has identified four major reasons why people forget: retrieval failure, interference, failure to store and motivated forgetting. Learn more about these explanations for forgetting.
Comments
Nice article, but I really expected no 4 to read “Err..we forget”.
Let’s say a parent or clergy is doing scary/confusing/painful things to a child when they’re alone. The child is warned if she tells then her pet/parents will die, God will punish her, people will think she’s crazy, etc. So she does her best not to think about it so she won’t tell. Eventually, after some practice, and perhaps after being punished for telling, she becomes very, very skilled at not thinking about it. In fact, she never thinks about it after it happens. Could this be defined as a path to repression?