Retrieval-induced forgetting in a social context: Do the same mechanisms underlie forgetting in speakers and listeners?

Retrieval-induced forgetting in a social context: Do the same mechanisms underlie forgetting in speakers and listeners?
Mem Cognit. 2019 Jul 08;:
Authors: Abel M, Bäuml KT
Abstract
Selectively retrieving details from memory can result in forgetting related information, a finding known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). The effect has mostly been examined in individuals, but RIF can also be socially transmitted and arise in listeners who are exposed to a speaker's selective memory retrieval. Whether within-individual RIF (WI-RIF) in speakers and socially shared RIF (SS-RIF) in listeners arise on the basis of the same cognitive mechanisms is unclear, however. In four experiments, we assessed both WI-RIF and SS-RIF while varying final test format to examine the potential involvement of output interference, strength-based blocking, and inhibition. WI-RIF and, to a similar degree, SS-RIF were observed on cued-recall tests with and without controlled output order at test, indicating that output interference cannot account for the observed forgetting. In contrast, SS-RIF was reduced relative to WI-RIF on tests of item recognition. These findings are consistent with the view that inhibition and blocking contribute to both WI-RIF and SS-RIF, but that the contribution of inhibition is reduced in listeners relative to speakers.
PMID: 31286453 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Memory and Cognition - July 11, 2019 Category: Neuroscience Tags: Mem Cognit Source Type: research