which theory of forgetting mostly addresses and valid and widlely present reason of forgetting?
Answers
Answer:
First, the memory has disappeared - it is no longer available. Second, the memory is still stored in the memory system but, for some reason, it cannot be retrieved.
These two answers summaries the main theories of forgetting developed by psychologists. The first answer is more likely to be applied to forgetting in short term memory, the second to forgetting in long term memory.
Forgetting information from short term memory (STM) can be explained using the theories of trace decay and displacement.
Forgetting from long term memory (LTM) can be explained using the theories of interference, retrieval failure and lack of consolidation.
Explanation:
Answer:
Explanation:
up
HOME
MENU
SEARCH
Forgetting
By Saul McLeod, published 2008
Why do we forget? There are two simple answers to this question.
First, the memory has disappeared - it is no longer available. Second, the memory is still stored in the memory system but, for some reason, it cannot be retrieved.
These two answers summaries the main theories of forgetting developed by psychologists. The first answer is more likely to be applied to forgetting in short term memory, the second to forgetting in long term memory.
Forgetting information from short term memory (STM) can be explained using the theories of trace decay and displacement.
Forgetting from long term memory (LTM) can be explained using the theories of interference, retrieval failure and lack of consolidation.
Trace Decay Theory of Forgetting
This explanation of forgetting in short term memory assumes that memories leave a trace in the brain. A trace is some form of physical and/or chemical change in the nervous system.
Trace decay theory states that forgetting occurs as a result of the automatic decay or fading of the memory trace. Trace decay theory focuses on time and the limited duration of short term memory.
This theory suggests short term memory can only hold information for between 15 and 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed. After this time the information / trace decays and fades away.
No one disputes the fact that memory tends to get worse the longer the delay between learning and recall, but there is disagreement about the explanation for this effect.
According to the trace decay theory of forgetting, the events between learning and recall have no affect whatsoever on recall. It is the length of time the information has to be retained that is important. The longer the time, the more the memory trace decays and as a consequence more information is forgotten.
There are a number of methodological problems confronting researchers trying to investigate the trace decay theory. One of the major problems is controlling for the events that occur between learning and recall.
Clearly, in any real-life situation, the time between learning something and recalling it will be filled with all kinds of different events. This makes it very difficult to be sure that any forgetting which takes place is the result of decay rather than a consequence of the intervening events.
Support for the idea that forgetting from short-term memory might be the result of decay over time came from research carried out by Brown (1958) in the United Kingdom, and Peterson and Peterson (1959) in the United States. The technique they developed has become known as the Brown-Peterson task.
Evaluation
There is very little direct support for decay theory as an explanation for the loss of information from short-term and long-term memory. One of the problems with decay theory is that it is more or less impossible to test it. In practice, it is not possible to create a situation in which there is a blank period of time between presentation of material and recall. Having presented information participants will rehearse it. If you prevent rehearsal by introducing a distracter task, it results in interference.
Decay theory has difficulty explaining the observation that many people can remember events that happened several years previously with great clarity, even though they haven't thought about them during the intervening period. If our memories gradually decayed over time, then people should not have clear memories of distant events which have lain dormant for several years. However, there is evidence to suggest that information is lost from sensory memory through the process of decay (Sperling, 1960).
Displacement from STM
Displacement seeks to explain forgetting in short term memory, and suggests it’s due to a lack of availability.
Displacement theory provides a very simple explanation of forgetting. Because of its limited capacity, suggested by Miller to be 7+/- 2 items, STM can