Campbell and Phenix (2009) observed retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) (slower response time) for simple addition facts (e.g., 3 + 4) immediately following 40 retrieval-practice blocks of their multiplication counterparts (3 × 4 = ?). A subsequent single retrieval of the previously unpracticed multiplication problems, however, produced an RIF effect about twice as large for their addition counterparts. Thus, a single retrieval of a multiplication fact appeared to produce much larger RIF of the addition counterpart than did many multiplication retrieval-practice trials. In subsequent similar studies, however, this hyper-RIF effect was not observed (e.g., Campbell & Thompson, 2012). The current studies further investigated hyper-RIF in arithmetic. In Chapter 2 (Experiment 1), composition of operands (unique vs. common) and amount of multiplication practice (6 vs. 20 repetitions of each problem) were manipulated. Participants solved multiplication problems (4 × 7 = ?) and then were tested on their memory for the addition counterparts (4 + 7 = ?) and control additions. Chapter 3 (Experiment 2) attempted an exact replication of Campbell and Phenix. In both studies, hyper-RIF was not observed. The results confirm the basic RIF effect of multiplication retrieval practice on addition counterparts, but cast doubt on the on the reality of the hyper-RIF effect observed by Campbell and Phenix. It is concluded that the hyper-RIF effect reported by Campbell and Phenix is an elusive or non-existent phenomenon; consequently, it cannot at this time be considered an important result in the RIF literature.

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There have been many theories on why we forget. One of the recent approaches to this phenomenon is retrieval induced forgetting (RIF). The present study investigated RIF and different kinds of disruptions and their effects by using extra-list cued recall task. Some participants studied two additional word lists after the target list and some participants studied and were tested from these interpolated lists before their final recall of target list. Relatedness of the interfering lists was also manipulated. There were two control groups that either got an immediate test or got a math task before memory test. The particular interest was on the target competitor effect. The results of the study indicated that all the disruption conditions reduced the effects of competitors. However, there was no effect of retrieval-induced forgetting and also no effect of relatedness. The importance of retention interval on forgetting was discussed.

abstract: Retrieving an item from memory can cause subsequent suppression of related items. This phenomenon, involving a procedure where participants retrieve category-exemplar pairs (e.g. FRUIT-orange), is known as Retrieval Induced Forgetting (RIF). Individuals who demonstrate greater amounts of RIF also exhibit greater working memory capacity (WMC). Reasoning ability is highly related to WMC, which may suggest that a similar relation exists between RIF and Reasoning ability. The goal of the present investigation was to examine this possibility. Rotation Span and a Letter Number task were used as indicators of WMC and a Cognitive Reflection Test was used to measure Reasoning ability. A significant RIF effect was found, but it did not significantly correlate with WMC or Reasoning ability. These results demonstrate the importance of designing a RIF task appropriately, selecting measures of Reasoning ability, and the theoretical accounts of the RIF effect. One possibility is that by not controlling for output interference, the obtained RIF effect cannot be reasoned to come from the executive control process as suggested by the inhibition account. Although this account is the chief explanation of the RIF effect, it has been challenged by alternative accounts and it remains unclear how the underlying mechanism of RIF is related to higher cognitive abilities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2016

Retrieval induced forgetting är ett fenomen som uppstår när återkallande av information skapar glömska för annan relaterad information. Detta tros vara en av processerna som understödjer adaptiv glömska, en process där icke-relevant och störande information inhiberas för att premiera minne för relevant information. Tidigare forskning har sett samband mellan låga nivåer av adaptiv glömska och negativa tankeprocesser. I denna studie undersöktes sambandet mellan svårigheter att glömma irrelevant information och oro, ruminering och påträngande tankar. 34 deltagare rekryterades i Örebroregionen. Deltagarna fick genomgå ett minnestest för att sedan fylla i enkäter kopplade till oro, ruminering och påträngande tankar. Nivå av störning från irrelevant information hos deltagarna korrelerade negativt med nivå av oro och ruminering. Dessa resultat är motsatta de resultat som kan förväntas utifrån teorin. Alternativa teorier och förklaringar till detta resultat diskuteras. På grund av omständigheterna för studien bör resultaten tolkas med viss försiktighet.

Repeatedly retrieving information from memory can induce forgetting of related, un-retrieved information below baseline, an effect termed retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF; Anderson, Bjork & Bjork, 1994). The inhibitory account of RIF (e.g., Anderson, 2003) has received extensive support in the literature, especially through studies designed to empirically test inhibitory-based principles of RIF in adults. These principles include cue independence (RIF persists in the absence of the cue used during practice), interference/competition dependence (inhibition serves to resolve interference/competition between the cue and associated items during practice), strength independence (RIF is not strictly due to a target strengthening and competitor forgetting trade-off), retrieval-specificity (retrieval attempts are required to create the interference/ competition responsible for triggering inhibition), and output interference independence (RIF persists when output interference is controlled). However, competition-based explanations do not require an inhibitory component and can also account for many adult RIF findings. Very little RIF research has examined young children’s memory, whose immature memory systems might not be capable of demonstrating an inhibitory-driven effect. This dissertation filled this gap in the literature by thoroughly evaluating the inhibitory account of RIF in kindergartners (Ks). Two groups of Ks completed two RIF tasks that tested cue independence, competition/interference dependence, and strength independence in the first experiment, and retrieval-specificity, output interference independence, and strength-independence again in the second experiment. When a novel cue was used to test final memory (Experiment 1), and when a cue-free recognition test was used that controlled for output interference (Experiment 2), no RIF was found. These results, along with correlational evidence of strength dependence, favour a competition-based account of Ks’ RIF. Implications for inhibition theory and the potential development of RIF are discussed.

Age can affect memory performance. This statement is so often heard that it has become almost a truism. When research surrounding memory inhibition – the ability to ignore irrelevant material to aid in the retrieval of a target memory – is examined specifically, a more mixed picture of findings emerges. Whilst some previous work has found evidence of an age-related deficit, other research has rather found intact memory inhibition in older adults. Less often discussed, too, are the effects of individual differences on memory inhibition in addition to age, including differences in metacognitive strategy, working memory capacity, stress and mood. The present thesis set out primarily to investigate the effects of age on memory inhibition chiefly using cognitive experimental paradigms, and also to investigate potential individual differences in this ability which exist across the lifespan. The findings of the present thesis showed that age alone was not related to a deficit in memory inhibition, - young and older adults rather showed equivalent levels of inhibitory forgetting on two different paradigms, when methodological measures were put in place to control for alternative, interference-based explanations (Study 1). These findings also could not be explained by differences in metacognitive, covert-cuing strategies (Study 2). Instead, age-related inhibitory deficits were qualified by differences in working memory capacity (Study 3a & b). In combination, older age and low working memory capacity were related to impaired memory inhibition, whereas young age or high working memory capacity were not. Finally, natural variations in stress and mood over time were found to be related to significant differences in working memory capacity, but not memory inhibition (Study 4). This suggests that these important cognitive abilities may be capable of changing even over relatively short time periods, and thus they may also potentially be improved, - a proposal which is considered in the General Discussion.