Introduction
Five theories by psychologists explain why info may be forgotten or
inaccessible in memory.
Decay Theory
1. Stimuli received by STM too weak or unattended to
2. Stimuli decay or fade away
3. Ignored stimuli decay from STM within 18 sec.
4. Never processed – never learned
Displacement Theory
1. Occurs in STM
2. Too much info too rapidly overloads WM.
3. Some stimuli in STM shoved aside or displaced.
4. Occurs due to STM's limited capacity - 7 chunks
5. Stimuli drop out of memory.
Interference Theory
1. Two forms: retroactive and proactive.
2. Can occur between items studied recently or many years apart.
3. Interference occurs between old and new info similar in nature
and not differentiated.
4. Retroactive Interference
5. Proactive Interference
Incomplete Encoding Theory
1. Due to incomplete encoding during rehearsal in WM.
2. Learning interrupted or only partially learned
3. No strong impression, retrieval cues, or associations.
4. No self-quizzing – not aware info not encoded clearly.
5. Recall = only partial or unusable info
●
-New interferes with retrieval of old
-New fresher in WM and overrides recall of old.
Retrieval Failure Theory
●
-Old in LTM interferes with recall of new
-Esp. when new contradicts or doesn't integrated
with old
-Ex. know Spanish, hard to switch to Japanese
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May be caused by
weak organizational or filing system
lack of retrieval cues or associations
lack of practice retrieving
Info still exists in info but not accessible
• Anxiety, stress, disruptive thoughts may hinder recall
●
Inability to conduct successful memory search
SUMMARY
Study strategies that support functions of WM can combat five
types of forgetting.



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