The HED Task Catalog is under development. IDs are not stable until formal release. Comments are welcome at github.com/hed-standard/hed-task/issues.

Directed Forgetting Task

HED task ID: hedtsk_directed_forgetting

Family: Memory control and prospective memory tasks

Also known as: DF Task, Item-Method DF, List-Method DF

Study-phase cues instruct participants to remember or forget specific items or lists; later memory tests index intentional forgetting.

Description

Participants study items (typically words) under instructions that each item should either be remembered or forgotten. In the item method, a remember or forget cue follows each individual item. In the list method, a single cue midway through the study phase instructs participants to forget everything studied so far. On a subsequent memory test, recall and recognition of forget-cued items is impaired relative to remember-cued items. The paradigm provides the primary laboratory tool for studying intentional forgetting and memory control, with theoretical implications for understanding inhibitory control over memory, context change, and selective rehearsal.

Inclusion test

An experiment is an instance of this task when its procedure matches, it manipulates at least one of the listed variables, and it records at least one of the listed measures.

Procedure

Items are presented one at a time or in lists; after each item (item method) or after a full list (list method), a cue instructs the participant to remember or forget it. A final test probes all items.

Manipulation

Remember vs. forget cues; item vs. list method; retention interval; item type (words, pictures, emotional content).

Measurement

Recall/recognition accuracy for remember-cued vs. forget-cued items; directed forgetting effect (remember advantage); intrusion of forget items.

Variations

Named versions that change what the participant experiences or does. The identifier of a variation is hedvar_<task>__<variation>.

Variation

Description

Justification

Item-Method Directed Forgetting

hedvar_directed_forgetting__item_method_directed_forgetting

Remember/forget cue after each individual item; primarily affects encoding.

Forget cue follows each item; individual item suppression

List-Method Directed Forgetting

hedvar_directed_forgetting__list_method_directed_forgetting

Single forget cue after the first list; affects both retrieval and encoding of second list.

Forget cue follows entire first list; list-level suppression

Recognition vs. Recall Test

hedvar_directed_forgetting__recognition_vs_recall

Directed forgetting effects are typically larger in recall than recognition.

Different retrieval test changes what type of access is measured

Directed Forgetting with Source Memory

hedvar_directed_forgetting__directed_forgetting_with_source_memory

Testing whether source information is forgotten alongside item information.

Retrieval includes source judgment; adds contextual memory component

Emotional Directed Forgetting

hedvar_directed_forgetting__emotional_directed_forgetting

Emotional vs. neutral items; emotional items may resist directed forgetting.

Emotional to-be-forgotten material; retained per §5.1 (EMOT retired)

Directed Forgetting of Actions (SPT)

hedvar_directed_forgetting__directed_forgetting_of_actions_spt

Forgetting subject-performed tasks; tests embodied memory control.

Subject-performed tasks as to-be-forgotten items; different encoding modality

Cumulative Directed Forgetting

hedvar_directed_forgetting__cumulative_directed_forgetting

Multiple lists with forget cues; tests whether inhibition accumulates across lists.

Multiple forget cues accumulate across list; different suppression structure

Cognitive processes

This task is designed to engage the following processes:

Key references

  • Bjork, R. A. (1970). Positive forgetting: The noninterference of items intentionally forgotten. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 9(3), 255–268. (DOI)

Further references

  • Anderson, M. C., & Hanslmayr, S. (2014). Neural mechanisms of motivated forgetting. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(6), 279–292. (DOI, PubMed)

  • Pastötter, B., & Bäuml, K.-H. T. (2014). Distinct slow and fast cortical theta dynamics in episodic memory retrieval. NeuroImage, 94, 155–161. (DOI, PubMed)

  • Sahakyan, L., Delaney, P. F., Foster, N. L., & Abushanab, B. (2013). List-method directed forgetting in cognitive and clinical research: A theoretical and methodological review. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 59, 131–189. (DOI)

  • Fellner, M.-C., Waldhauser, G. T., & Axmacher, N. (2020). Tracking selective rehearsal and active inhibition of memory traces in directed forgetting. Current Biology, 30(13), 2638–2644. (DOI, PubMed)