Question

Distinguish between decay, interference, and cue-dependent theories of forgetting. Provide an example of each

Answer 1

Improper Encoding

One of the common causes of forgetting is that the memory was not even encoded properly. This means that after the information was processed in the short term memory it did not pass on through the long term memory, hence the memory wasn't formed. Example. A person tries to remember where he kept his car keys, but is not able to remember as the information was not encoded in the first place.

Decay

With time a lot of memory was fade away. Decay doesn't necessarily depend on how much time has past or if the memory has gotten old, because even some old memories can be recalled very well and some new memories can be forgetting easily. Sometimes the significance and importance of the information determines if remember something or not. Example. Mary may not remember her 1st grade classmates and teachers because with time, the information has decayed.

Interference

Interference theory suggests that we forget things when information interferes with other learned information. There are two types of interferences.Proactive interference is when past memories interfere with making of new memories. Retroactive interference is when newly learned information interferes with the recall of perviously learned information. Example. Jim meets tom for the first time and later recalls him as Jonathan, as the encoding on toms name interfered with a previously learned Jonathan's name,

Motivated forgetting

Sigmund Freud called this phenomenon repression. This happens when unacceptable and unpleasant thoughts and memories are pushed into the unconscious. Example. A person may not have any recall of their accident as unconsciously that incident may have been forgotten.