What will we forget

Sometimes we actually want to forget. Studies have shown that people can intentionally forget things that are no longer useful to them, seemingly by just not rehearsing those things. One way we forgot is when we try to access information from our memory, but fail at it.

This is, essentially, a retrieval failure, and in these cases we know what we want to access an email password, for instance. Now we have password candidates from our search process, and one of these need to be selected.

During this selection process, these password candidates compete with each other. In the end, we choose one of these candidates. This type of retrieval failure happens because memory representations that are activated by a certain retrieval cue interfere with each other. This type of forgetting especially happens when we reset our password.

The connection between the cue and the old password is very strong compared to the newly formed connection between the cue and the new password which makes the old password a very strong candidate. In my research, I have investigated how forgetting due to interference happens for emotional memories compared to neutral ones. I found that although the mechanisms behind forgetting work similarly for both types of memories, there is consistently less interference, less forgetting, for emotional memories.

So you might not forget emotional memories such as the U. It is also impossible to create memories that can compete with that even if we wanted to. On the other hand, if you try to remember where you parked your car yesterday, good luck with that! There will be hundreds of memories up for competition. In summary, forgetting in such instances happens when memories interfere with each other and memories that are unique are less subject to forgetting due to interference.

From my perspective, this question can be answered from either a cognitive or a physiological standpoint. Of course, both standpoints should be mutually supportive of one another.

First, however, the reader should keep in mind that forgetting can be adaptive. It is important to forget irrelevant information that would otherwise clog up the memory system. Cognitively, there has been a longstanding debate as to whether forgetting is due to a the decay of information in the memory stores or b interference from competing information at retrieval.

In terms of the interference hypothesis, memory researchers make a distinction between availability i. Or consider the case where you visit your old high school, see your old locker, and suddenly a series of old memories spring back into mind.

That is, learning or encoding new information is facilitated by strengthened synapses in our neural circuitry. Similarly, forgetting occurs when the specific synaptic circuitry that holds a memory is weakened.

For the events of our lives, new memories are thought to be largely dependent on the hippocampus at first. However, over time, this information is translated into neocortical areas. Such translation likely alters the memory trace in some manner, and so, in a literal sense, this also leads to some forgetting of the original trace information. There are many reasons why we forget.

This also helps to explain why we forget many mundane events, like brushing our teeth—we pay them little attention. But assuming we are paying attention, memory formation is a complex process, extending over seconds to hours at least and, probably, much longer.

Bush was the American presidency from to He was criticized for the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq , poor handling of Hurricane Katrina, and seeing the United States enter a recession. The eruption threw volcanic ash several kilometres up in the atmosphere, which led to air travel disruption in northwest Europe for six days. However, it is to be noted that it would have to be something very embarassing for anyone more than people around or friends to notice.

Usually, embarassing actions by an individual non-celebrity that aren't notable in some way don't end up being noticed, much less on the news. The title text is in reference to the vastly over-saturated programming on VH1 dedicated to the history of the TV universe. I remember Pluto but nothing before or after that. Also this is a terrible comment system -- How far off the top of that list is the death of JFK?

Ah, the seventies. Bell Bottoms. The Bicentennial. The Munich Olympics. The original Star Wars movie. Except for Star Wars, I suppose much of that could be forgotten.

Especially Bell Bottoms. Lorena Bobbitt is misspelled in the comic. It should have two "t's. Both still available if you click on the image and view upload history. Let's not forget when the majority of people will not remember a world berift of XKCD! Loeb talk , 10 August UTC.

When Coca-Cola change the formula to New Coke, they kept the name "Coca-Cola" for the reformulated beverage, and discontinued the old formula. Because of the backlash, they reintroduced the old formula as "Coca-Cola Classic" and kept the new formula as "Coca-Cola". After a while, with "Coca-Cola Classic" being by far the biggest seller, the new formula was rebranded "Coke II", and eventually discontinued I believe.

The can I have in front of me is marked simply "Coca-Cola", so I guess "Coca-Cola Classic" was eventually rebranded back to the original name. Am I the only one who thinks that there are some other things needing explaining here? Well, not without a little googling. And Pluto still exists, even if it's not currently classified as a planet last I heard, they were considering classifying it and Charon as a twin planet system so people are unlikely to forget about the name.

Oh and if Chernobyl is considered worthy of explanation, surely so is Challenger? Columbine too. Jeff's initial selection seems a little arbitrary, and while he justifiably never claims to provide a comprehensive explanation, we usually fill in the gaps.

I've sort of fixed it, but it could do with more work. Jeremyp talk , 13 August UTC. Actually I found the most crucial part, the math, was done poorly: Why do we have a 32 years gap today and a 35 years gap in the future, when the current median age is "around 35"?. Initially, information is often lost very quickly after it is learned.

Factors such as how the information was learned and how frequently it was rehearsed play a role in how quickly these memories are lost. Information stored in long-term memory is surprisingly stable. The forgetting curve also showed that forgetting does not continue to decline until all of the information is lost. Sometimes it might seem that information has been forgotten, but even a subtle cue can help trigger the memory.

Imagine the last time you took an exam for school. While you might have initially felt forgetful and unprepared, seeing the information presented on the test probably helped cue the retrieval of information you might not have known you even remembered.

So how do we know when something has been forgotten? Of course, many factors can contribute to forgetting. Sometimes you might be distracted when you learn new information, which might mean that you never truly retain the information long enough to remember it later. Well-known memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus has proposed four key explanations for why forgetting occurs.

These have led to some major theories of forgetting. What did you have for dinner Tuesday night of last week? Is that difficult to recall? If someone had asked you that question Wednesday morning, you probably would have had no problem recalling what you had for dinner the night before.

But as intervening days pass, the memories of all the other meals you have eaten since then start to interfere with your memory of that one particular meal. This is a good example of what psychologists call the interference theory of forgetting. According to interference theory, forgetting is the result of different memories interfering with one another.

The more similar two or more events are to one another, the more likely interference will occur. It is difficult to remember what happened on an average school day two months ago because so many other days have occurred since then. Unique and distinctive events, however, are less likely to suffer from interference. Your high school graduation, wedding, and the birth of your first child are much more likely to be recalled because they are singular events—days like no other.

Interference also plays a role in what is known as the serial position effect , or the tendency to recall the first and last items of a list. In all likelihood, you will probably be able to easily recall the first and last items on your list, but you might forget many of the items that were in the middle. The first thing you wrote down and the last thing you wrote down stand out as being more distinct, while the fourth item and seventh item might seem so similar that they interfere with each other.

Eliminating interference altogether is impossible, but there are a few things you can do to minimize its effects. One of the best things you can do is rehearse new information in order to better commit it to memory.

In fact, many experts recommend overlearning important information, which involves rehearsing the material over and over again until it can be reproduced perfectly with no errors. Another tactic to fight interference is to switch up your routine and avoid studying similar material back to back.

For example, don't try to study vocabulary terms for your Spanish language class right after studying terms for your German class. Break up the material and switch to a completely different subject each study session. Sleep also plays an essential role in memory formation. Researchers suggest that sleeping after you learn something new is one of the best ways to turn new memories into lasting ones.

According to the trace theory of memory, physical and chemical changes in the brain results in a memory "trace.

Trace theory proposes that the length of time between the memory and recalling that information determines whether the information will be retained or forgotten. If the time interval is short, more information will be recalled. If a longer period of time passes, more information will be forgotten and memory will be poorer.

The idea that memories fade over time is hardly new. The Greek philosopher Plato suggested such a thing more than 2, years ago. Later, experimental research by psychologists such as Ebbinghaus bolstered this theory. One of the problems with this theory is that it is difficult to demonstrate that time alone is responsible for declines in recall. In real-world situations, many things happen between the formation of a memory and the recall of that information.

A student who learns something in class, for example, might have hundreds of unique and individual experiences between learning that information and having to recall it on an exam. Was forgetting the date that the American Revolutionary War began due to the length of time between learning the date in your American History class and being tested on it?

Or did the multitude of information acquired during that interval of time play a role? Testing this can be exceedingly difficult. It is nearly impossible to eliminate all the information that might have an influence on the creation of the memory and the recall of the memory.

Another problem with decay theory is it does not account for why some memories fade quickly while others linger. Novelty is one factor that plays a role. For example, you are more likely to remember your very first day of college than all of the intervening days between it and graduation.

That first day was new and exciting, but all the following days probably seem quite similar to each other.