Intentional Forgetting: Interdisciplinary Approaches

Research on intentional forgetting has been conducted in various forms and under various names since at least the 1960s. Using review chapters and empirical studies, this text brings together the many research paradigms investigating intentional forgetting and highlights the commonalities that link these seemingly disparate areas of research. So why is research on forgetting important? Such work helps to increase the understanding of how memory functions - especially with regard to its updating. We are frequently unable to process all the information we experience; the forgetting of some information is therefore necessary. Additionally, existing information must often be updated or replaced with new information. Investigating this updating ability has been the main thrust of research on intentional forgetting, specifically those studies on the directed forgetting phenomenon. Cognitive experiments on directed forgetting have shown that we are able to deal more effectively with large amounts of information by following instructions to treat some of the information as "to be forgotten". In this way "interference" is reduced and we are able to devote all of our resources to the remaining "to be remembered" information. The mechanisms which lead to this reduction continue to promote experiments, but over 25 years of research maintains that the directed forgetting effect is robust.

Table of Contents:

Contents: Preface. C.M. MacLeod, Directed Forgetting. J.M. Golding, D.L. Long, There's More to Intentional Forgetting Than Directed Forgetting: An Integrative Review. E.L. Bjork, R.A. Bjork, M.C. Anderson, Varieties of Goal-Directed Forgetting. B.H. Basden, D.R. Basden, Directed Forgetting: A Contrast of Methods and Interpretations. S.W. Allen, J.R. Vokey, Directed Forgetting and Rehearsal on Direct and Indirect Memory Tests. J. Hauselt, An Illusion of Retrieval Inhibition: Directed Forgetting and Implicit Memory. H.M. Johnson, Disregarding Information in Text. D.S. Grant, Directed Forgetting in Pigeons. T.R. Zentall, K.L. Roper, D.H. Kaiser, L.M. Sherburne, A Critical Analysis of Directed-Forgetting Research in Animals. L.M. Isbell, H.L. Smith, R.S. Wyer, Jr., Consequences of Attempts to Disregard Social Information. Y. Schul, E. Bernstein, Suspicion and Discounting: Ignoring Invalid Information in an Uncertain Environment. G.V. Bodenhausen, C.N. Macrae, A.B. Milne, Disregarding Social Stereotypes: Implications for Memory, Judgment, and Behavior. J.M. Golding, A.L. Ellis, J. Hauselt, S.A. Sego, Instructions to Disregard Potentially Useful Unshared Information in a Group Context. M. Cloitre, Intentional Forgetting and Clinical Disorders. S.M. Kassin, C.A. Studebaker, Instructions to Disregard and the Jury: Curative and Paradoxical Effects. W.C. Thompson, J. Fuqua, "The Jury Will Disregard...": A Brief Guide to Inadmissible Evidence. R.A. Bjork, Intentional Forgetting in Perspective: Comments, Conjectures, and Some Directed Remembering.

"I thouroughtly enjoyed, and greatly benefited from reading this volume. It brings together a wealth of findings, ideas, and directions for future research."
—Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology

"This is one of the most exciting edited volumes I have seen in many years, and it seems to do a remarkable job in walking the narrow line between excessive breadth and excessive narrowness. The writing of all the chapters is quite clear, and each one should have considerable interest for those of us who are interested in memory....This is one book that psychologists in many subfields should not only try to remember but should also not try to forget."
—Contemporary Psychology