•Proactive interference (PI) means that prior learning can impede new learning. 79•Several methods have emerged in the literature that can induce PI release. 74•Results from behavioral and imaging ...studies on PI buildup and release are reviewed. 83•Release from PI can be due both to improved encoding and improved retrieval. 76•Issues that require further behavioral or imaging work are specified. 69
Interference from related memories is generally considered one of the major causes of forgetting in human memory. The most prevalent form of interference may be proactive interference (PI), which refers to the finding that memory of more recently studied information can be impaired by the previous study of other information. PI is a fairly persistent effect, but numerous studies have shown that there can also be release from PI. PI buildup and release have primarily been studied using paired-associate learning, the Brown-Peterson task, or multiple-list learning. The review first introduces the three experimental tasks and, for each task, summarizes critical findings on PI buildup and release, from both behavioral and imaging work. Then, an overview is provided of suggested cognitive mechanisms operating on the encoding and retrieval stages as well as of neural correlates of these mechanisms. The results indicate that, in general, both encoding and retrieval processes contribute to PI buildup and release. Finally, empirical gaps in the current work are emphasized and suggestions for future studies are provided.
In adults, testing can enhance subsequent learning by reducing interference from the tested information. Here, we examined this forward effect of testing in children. Younger and older elementary ...school children and adult controls studied four lists of items in anticipation of a final cumulative recall test. Following presentation of each of the first three lists, participants were immediately tested on the respective list, or the list was re‐presented for additional study. Results revealed that, compared to additional study, immediate testing of Lists 1–3 enhanced memory for the subsequently studied List 4 in adults and older elementary school children, but not in younger elementary school children. The findings indicate that the forward effect of testing is a relatively late‐maturing phenomenon that develops over middle childhood and is still inefficient in the early elementary school years. Together with the results of other recent studies, these findings point to a more general problem in young children in combating interference.
Testing of previously studied nontarget lists (Lists 1‐3) enhanced recall of a subsequently studied target list (List 4), and reduced number of intrusions from the nontarget lists during recall of the target list in adults and older elementary school children, but not in younger elementary school children.
► Three techniques to induce release from proactive interference were examined. ► As techniques we employed directed forgetting, context change, and testing. ► The techniques increased recall rates ...and reduced recall latencies of target items. ► The release created focused memory search of the target items. ► Retrieval processes play a critical role in release from proactive interference.
Proactive interference (PI) refers to the finding that memory for recently studied (target) information can be vastly impaired by the previous study of other (nontarget) information. PI can be reduced in a number of ways, for instance, by directed forgetting of the prior nontarget information, the testing of the prior nontarget information, or an internal context change before study of the target information. Here we report the results of four experiments, in which we demonstrate that all three forms of release from PI are accompanied by a decrease in participants’ response latencies. Because response latency is a sensitive index of the size of participants’ mental search set, the results suggest that release from PI can reflect more focused memory search, with the previously studied nontarget items being largely eliminated from the search process. Our results thus provide direct evidence for a critical role of retrieval processes in PI release.
In multiple-list learning, retrieval during learning has been suggested to improve recall of the single lists by enhancing list discrimination and, at test, reducing interference. Using ...electrophysiological, oscillatory measures of brain activity, we examined to what extent retrieval during learning facilitates list encoding. Subjects studied 5 lists of items in anticipation of a final cumulative recall test and did either a retrieval or a no-retrieval task between study of the lists. Retrieval was from episodic memory (recall of the previous list), semantic memory (generation of exemplars from an unrelated category), or short-term memory (2-back task). Behaviorally, all 3 forms of retrieval enhanced recall of both previously and subsequently studied lists. Physiologically, the results showed an increase of alpha power (8-14 Hz) from List 1 to List 5 encoding when no retrieval activities were interpolated but no such increase when any of the 3 retrieval activities occurred. Brain-behavior correlations showed that alpha-power dynamics from List 1 to List 5 encoding predicted subsequent recall performance. The results suggest that, without intermittent retrieval, encoding becomes ineffective across lists. In contrast, with intermittent retrieval, there is a reset of the encoding process for each single list that makes encoding of later lists as effective as encoding of early lists. (Contains 4 figures.)
Humans remember less and less of what was encoded as more and more time passes. Selective retrieval can interrupt such time-dependent forgetting, enhancing recall not only of the retrieved but also ...of the nonretrieved information. The recall enhancement has been attributed to context retrieval and the idea that selective retrieval reactivates the retrieved item's temporal context during study, which can facilitate recall of other items that had a similar context at study. However, it is unclear whether context retrieval induces a transient discontinuity in the stream of temporal context only, or a more permanent updating of context that would entail a lasting interruption of time-dependent forgetting. In three experiments, we analyzed time-dependent forgetting of encoded information right after study and after time-lagged selective retrieval. Selective retrieval boosted recall of the nonretrieved information up to the levels observed directly after study. Intriguingly, it also created a restart of time-dependent forgetting that made forgetting after retrieval indistinguishable from forgetting after study and thus induced a reset of the recall process. The results suggest that selective retrieval can revive forgotten memories and cause lasting recall enhancement, effects likely mediated by context retrieval and a permanent updating of temporal context.
It is a prominent idea that cognitive control mediates conflict adaptation, in that response conflict in a previous trial triggers control adjustments that reduce conflict in a current trial. In the ...present EEG study, we investigated the dynamics of cognitive control in a response-priming task by examining the effects of previous trial conflict on intertrial and current trial oscillatory brain activities, both on the electrode and the source level. Behavioral results showed conflict adaptation effects for RTs and response accuracy. Physiological results showed sustained intertrial effects in left parietal theta power, originating in the left inferior parietal cortex, and midcentral beta power, originating in the left and right (pre)motor cortex. Moreover, physiological analysis revealed a current trial conflict adaptation effect in midfrontal theta power, originating in the ACC. Correlational analyses showed that intertrial effects predicted conflict-induced midfrontal theta power in currently incongruent trials. In addition, conflict adaptation effects in midfrontal theta power and RTs were positively related. Together, these findings point to a dynamic cognitive control system that, as a function of previous trial type, up- and down-regulates attention and preparatory motor activities in anticipation of the next trial.
Social interactions can shape our memories. Here, we examined two well-established effects of collaborative remembering on individual memory: collaborative facilitation for initially studied and ...social contagion with initially unstudied information. Participants were tested in groups of three. After an individual study phase, they completed a first interpolated test either alone or collaboratively with the other group members. Our goal was to explore how prior collaboration affected memory performance on a final critical test, which was taken individually by all participants. Experiments 1a and 1b used additive information as study materials, whereas Experiment 2 introduced contradictory information. All experiments provided evidence of collaborative facilitation and social contagion on the final critical test, which affected individual memory simultaneously. In addition, we also examined memory at the group level on this final critical test, by analyzing the overlap in identical remembered contents across group members. Here, the experiments showed that both collaborative facilitation for studied information and social contagion with unstudied information contributed to the development of shared memories across group members. The presence of contradictory information reduced rates of mnemonic overlap, confirming that changes in individual remembering have repercussions for the development of shared memories at the group level. We discuss what cognitive mechanisms may mediate the effects of social interactions on individual remembering and how they may serve social information transmission and the formation of socially shared memories.
Retrieval practice can boost memory and long-term retention. The present research suggests that it may also benefit another domain that is critical for learning, namely motivation. In three ...experiments, subjects studied Swedish vocabulary by means of retrieval practice – with or without corrective feedback – or restudy. After a final memory test, subjects were left alone for a short period of time, and could choose freely if they wanted to learn more about the Swedish language and Sweden as a country. Retrieval practice with – but not without – feedback increased the time that subjects chose to invest in continued engagement in the materials. The results provide first evidence that retrieval practice plus feedback can increase motivation to keep on studying, potentially by making one's own progress in learning more transparent and enhancing experience of competence. Caveats and potential limitations are discussed.
Selectively retrieving a subset of previously studied information enhances memory for the retrieved information but causes forgetting of related, nonretrieved information. Such retrieval-induced ...forgetting (RIF) has often been attributed to inhibitory executive-control processes that supposedly suppress the nonretrieved items' memory representation. Here, we examined the role of working memory capacity (WMC) in young adults' RIF. WMC was assessed by means of the operation span task. Results revealed a positive relationship between WMC and RIF, with high-WMC individuals showing more RIF than low-WMC individuals. In contrast, individuals showed enhanced memory for retrieved information regardless of WMC. The results are consistent with previous individual-differences work that suggests a close link between WMC and inhibitory efficiency. In particular, the finding supports the inhibitory executive-control account of RIF. (Contains 2 footnotes, 1 figure and 1 table.)
Recall of studied material is typically impaired as time between study and test increases. Selective restudy can interrupt such time-dependent forgetting by enhancing recall not only of the restudied ...but also of the not restudied material. In two experiments, we examined whether this interruption of time-dependent forgetting reflects a transient or more lasting effect on recall performance. We analyzed time-dependent forgetting of studied items right after study and after time-lagged selective restudy. Restudy boosted recall of the not restudied items up to the levels observed directly after study and created a restart of time-dependent forgetting from this enhanced recall level. Critically, the forgetting after restudy was indistinguishable from the forgetting after study, suggesting that restudy induced a reset of recall for the not restudied items. The results are consistent with the idea that restudy reactivates the temporal context during study, thus facilitating recall of the not restudied items. In particular, the findings suggest that such context updating reflects a lasting effect that entails a restart of the original time-dependent forgetting. Results are discussed with respect to recent, similar findings on effects of time-lagged selective retrieval.
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