Making Memories Unavailable

Abstract

Abstract. Research from the past decades has shown that cuing and retrieval are not always beneficial for episodic memory and can also be detrimental. Prior work assumed that these detrimental effects are caused by retrieval blocking, in which cuing and retrieval strengthen material and the repeated involuntary sampling of the strengthened material hinders subsequent recall of nonstrengthened targets. Using a new experimental paradigm and an extended range of memory tests, recent research indicates that the detrimental effects of retrieval and cuing occur across a wide range of memory tests and are likely to be the result of inhibitory processes. These inhibitory processes impair the nonretrieved and noncue items' memory representation and make these items unavailable in memory. The recent results and the new theory are reviewed and discussed.