心理学与生活-第57章
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develops with age。 This theory is similar to interference in that as the child matures； new memories
interfere with or replace older memories。 This theory seems reasonably credible because it can be
applied to both episodic and semantic memories。 Children do not remember the
overgeneralizations they made of words or the restricted context in which they used early
vocabulary。 They also do not remember the grammatical structures they used as they began to
bine words into sentences。
Theory 5： Schema Differences； Too
Yet another explanation that emphasizes schemas also points to the difference between the
schemas of early childhood and those of later years。 Early memories would have to be represented
by actions； images； and feelings； rather than by symbols； primarily words。 Even after children begin
to use words； some psychologists claim that language is used for expressive purpose and
munication； but not as a tool for thought。 A child might be four or five years old before
memories begin to be symbolically stored with language。 As language takes over as the primary
vehicle for the organization of reality； the ability to retrieve autobiographical memories stored as
emotions； actions； or images is lost because there are not retrieval cues。 Aspects of this theory have
appeal； particularly because it specifically considers the child’s lack of language。
The three primary theories of adult forgetting are motivated forgetting or repression； interference；
and cue…dependent memory。 Versions of these same theories can be used to explain childhood
amnesia； along with theories that emphasize immaturity of brain structures。 The bottom line is that
childhood amnesia remains a mystery。 At present； we can only speculate why it occurs。
The Zeigarnik Effect
At about the same time that Freud was talking about motives to repress negative information； Kurt
Lewin and his students were looking at the effects of task motives on memory。 Legend has it that
they were puzzled by an occurrence in a Berlin beer garden。 In Germany； it is the custom for waiters
to write down what customers ordered after they have eaten and immediately before paying their
bill。 Once； however； after the meal had been served and the party had been given their bill； someone
asked the waiter a simple question about their order。 It turned out that the waiter could remember
very little of it once he had pleted his task。
The result of this observation was a classic experiment that demonstrated greater recall of tasks
before pletion than of parable tasks after pletion。 This effect of enhanced recall for
unpleted tasks was named the Zeigarnik Effect after Bluma Zeigarnik； the researcher who
carried out the study。
In the experiment； the participants performed simple tasks that they would be able to acplish if
given enough time； such as writing down a favorite quotation from memory； solving a riddle； and
doing mental arithmetic problems。 In some of the tasks； the participants were interrupted before
they had a chance to carry out the instructions in full。 In others； they were allowed to finish。 Despite
the fact that the participants spent more time on the pleted tasks than on the interrupted ones；
they tended to recall the unfinished tasks better than the finished ones when they were questioned
a few hours later。 This superiority of recall for the unpleted tasks disappeared； however； within
24 hours。 Apparently； it was attributable to short…term motivational factors that affected the
rehearsal process。
It might appear that the Zeigarnik effect is inconsistent with the notion of repression； since one
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CHAPTER 8： MEMORY
might expect that people would repress their memory of things left unfinished； particularly if the
lack of pletion was viewed as a failure。 Later research has suggested a resolution of this
inconsistency by showing that the Zeigamik effect only holds for tasks performed under
nonstressful conditions。 When nonpletion is ego involving and threatens the individual’s self…
esteem； there is a tendency for the Zeigamik effect to be reversed； for pleted tasks to be
remembered better than unpleted ones。
Remembering and Forgetting
Why do we forget？ Forgetting is a nuisance； but it happens to all of us—why？ There is a
phenomenon in human memory known as decay。 Jenkins and Dallenbach believed the decay of
memory strength was a function of time。 Their research concerned what happened during the time
span and how it could influence how much you forgot—or did not forget。 They had their
participants memorize nonsense syllables and then tested their recall at 1； 2； 4； or 8 hours later。
According to Jenkins and Dallenbach； decay theory proposes that busy or not； if time between
memorization and recall is equivalent across participant groups； then the amount of forgetting will
be equivalent。 WRONG！ Participants who remained awake and working after memorizing the
syllables recalled less than those who were able to sleep and then were retested on awakening did。
This effect is a phenomenon called interference。 The amount that you forget depends on how much
other “stuff’ you had to absorb and deal with in the interim and what you learned earlier is going to
pete with material learned later。 This is called Interference Theory。
There are two types of interference：
Proactive interference （a。k。a。 inhibition） deals with forward （pro） acting interference； the
detrimental impact that having learned List A has on your ability to remember a subsequently
learned List B。 An experimental group tested on List B； the second list； after a retention interval；
did worse on recall of List B than did a control group who did not learn List A。 （What else
might explain this？ Serial position curves and the primacy effect）。
Retroactive interference refers to the detrimental impact that learning List B has on previously
learned List A。 This is backward…acting interference and occurs when something that you have
learned recently interferes with something that you learned in the past。 For example； when an
experimental group learns List A； then List B； followed by a retention period and is asked to
recall List A ten minutes later； performance is poor。 Learning List B interferes with memory for
List A。
Example of Proactive Interference/Inhibition Experiment Protocol
Experimental Learn List A Learn List B Retention Period Memory test
Group for List B
Control Group Learn List B Retention Period Memory test
for List B
The Control Group in this experiment usually performs better on the test of List B because they did
not have List A to interfere with what they learned later。
Example of Retroactive Interference/Inhibition Experiment Protocol
Experimental Learn List A Learn List B Retention Period Memory test
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PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE
Group for List A
Control Group Learn List B Retention Period Memory test
for List A
The Control Group in this experiment usually performs better on the test of List A because they did
not have List B to interfere with what they had learned previously。
Reasons for Memory Loss with Age
As people get older； their ability to remember tends to decrease。 It takes longer for older people to
retrieve information； and sometimes they are unable to retrieve information that they are confident
is “in there somewhere。” Here are some of the factors that contribute to memory loss in older people。
。 Proactive interference occurs when something we learned in the past interferes with something learned
more recently。 This type of interference may be more of a problem for older people because they have
been exposed to more information than younger people have； and there is potentially more previously
learned material to interfere with what was learned later。
。 State…dependent memory tells us that being in the same physiological state at the time of storage and
retrieval facilitates remembering。 We change physiologically with age and physiological states
experienced at 65 may be much different from those experienced at younger ages。
。 Envi
