Forgetting: Concept and Causes | Psychology

After reading this article you will learn about Forgetting:- 1. Concept of Forgetting 2. Causes of Forgetting.

Concept of Forgetting:

Ebingharus first made experiments on memory and forgetting, first memorized verses by a number of readings of each verse after various intervals of time. He measured the rate of forgetting by determining how many re-readings were required to enable him to repeat the verses once more without prompting. Thus he prepared a curve of forgetting.

But he could remember some verses more easily than others, because they were more interesting or richer in rhymes. Therefore, he replaced verses by nonsense syllables (e.g., bep, cex, rab, etc.) and presented them to the eye by simple mechanical method so that it could read a syllable more than once. Recent experiments on memory are refinements of this method.

Experiments have shown the rate of forgetting. Ebbinghaus’s experiments show that the greatest amount of forgetting takes place just after process of learning or memorizing has been completed. One-half of the learned matter is forgotten in the first half-hour, two-thirds in eight hours to one day, three-fourths in about six days, and four-fifths in a month.

The initial fall of memory is greater than any that happens subsequently. So the proper time for revising the newly-learned material is soon after it has been learned, and not after a long interval. If one hour is given to the original learning, half an hour should be given to revision. Obliviscence of meaning­ful material (e.g., a song) is slower than that of meaningless material (e.g., nonsense syllables).

In immediate memory perseveration operates. There is a rapid falling off of perseveration in the period following the process of learning. So there is a rapid fall in memory just after learning has been completed. Law of habit determines rote memory. Laws of association determine logical memory.

Causes of Forgetting:

(i) There is a phenomenon of retroactive inhibition in connection with the formation of associations. If a bond of association between A and B is formed, and just after this a bond between C and D is formed, then the formation of the latter tends to inhibit the former. An association takes time to set. So ideas should not be imparted to the child in quick succession.

(ii) Forgetfulness may be also due to the effacement of the sub­conscious traces of past experiences. If the subconscious traces art-wiped off, they cannot be revived in consciousness.

(iii) If the connections among the subconscious traces are effaced, then also they cannot be revived.

(iv) If neurograms in the brain also be impaired, past experiences cannot be recalled. Neurograms are pathways among the nerves.

(v) Sometimes forgetfulness is brought about by repression or the desire to forget. Freud wrongly diagnosed a patient. She was really suffering from an ulcer of the stomach. But Freud treated her for a neurosis. He entirely forgot the case, the name and all.

His lapse of memory was due to the desire to forget. Thus sometimes forgetting is motivated. It is due to repression. Painful experiences, which hurt our self-respect, are repressed and forgotten.

Just as remembering is facilitated by the desire to remember, so forgetting is brought about by the desire to forget. Amnesia due to repression occurred in thousands of instances among the soldiers who suffered intensely during the World War I.

(vi) Amnesia or forgetfulness of a certain event may be brought about by hypnotic suggestion also, because the hypnotist controls the subject’s conative energies by giving him a proper suggestion. He gives a suggestion to a subject during hypnosis to forget a particular experience, and the subject forgets it, and cannot recall it. His recall of the experience is blocked by the sugges­tion.

(vii) Forgetting is sometimes due to the fact impressions were not adequately made due to lack of attention or incomplete learning. Tourists fail to recall many things and events perceived by them during Tourists fail to recall many things and events perceived by them during a rapid tour because of their inadequate impressions.

Many examinees cannot recall answers to some questions, because they did not learn them completely and because they had inadequate impressions. Many did, not learn them at all and therefore cannot recall them.

Ribot has formulated “the law of regression is forgetting, which means that forgetting descends progressively from the unstable to the stable”. First ideas are forgotten because they are abstract: then actions are forgotten because they are concrete.

First, recent experiences are forgotten because their neurograms are not firmly established; then remote experiences are forgotten because their neurograms are firmly established. The memory traces of recent experiences have not been associated with those of other experiences, and have not formed systems of knowledge.

The memory traces of remote experiences have been associated with those of other past experiences, and have formed system of knowledge.

Forgetfulness is a Condition of Memory:

It relieves the mind of useless details and makes it free to acquire new things. We should forget useless and unimportant things and remember essential and useful things. The mental energy is limited. The mind cannot remember an unlimited number of things. Thus Ribot truly said that forgetfulness was a condition of memory.

How to Forget:

The simple rule to forget is: Do not review. Lack of revision and review will gradually weaken the bonds of association, and will ultimately bring about forgetfulness. Some cases of forget­fulness are due to repression.

This is active forgetting. Repression of painful experiences is not quite healthy. When we hate to remember a painful situation, we should face the facts, think them through, do what ought to be done, and adjust ourselves adequately to the situa­tion.

How to Avoid Forgetting:

After remorizing a material, take it easy for some-time. Then the learned material will set in the mind. Con­solidation of the learned matter takes some time to set. Another rule is: Review. Revision and review at intervals strengthen the bonds of association and facilitate recall.

Reminiscence is a gradual process of improvement in the capacity to revive past experiences. Well-learned material can be retained for a considerable length of time by reviews spaced at long intervals.

The rules of economy of memorizing hold good also for retention. Forgetting is slower in logical memory in which relationships and connections have been found in the material than in rote memory. Forgetting is slower after active recitation than after passive learning. Forgetting is slower after spaced than after un-spaced learning, and slower after whole learning than after part learning.