Intentional forgetting reduces color-naming interference: evidence from item-method directed forgetting.
In an item-method-directed forgetting task, Chinese words were presented individually, each followed by an instruction to remember or forget. Colored probe items were presented following each memory instruction requiring a speeded color-naming response. Half of the probe items were novel and unrelated to the preceding study item, whereas the remaining half of the probe items were a repetition of the preceding study item. Repeated probe items were either identical to the preceding study item (E1, E2), a phonetic reproduction of the preceding study item (E3), or perceptually matched to the preceding study item (E4). Color-naming interference was calculated by subtracting color-naming reaction times made in response to a string of meaningless symbols from that of the novel and repeated conditions. Across all experiments, participants recalled more to-be-remembered (TBR) than to-be-forgotten (TBF) study words. More importantly, Experiments 1 and 2 found that color-naming interference was reduced for repeated TBF words relative to repeated TBR words. Experiments 3 and 4 further found that this effect occurred at the perceptual rather than semantic level. These findings suggest that participants may bias processing resources away from the perceptual representation of to-be-forgotten information.
Department of Psychology, National Chung-Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan. psyysl@ccu.edu.tw
Yuh-Shiow
YS
Lee
Huang-Mou
HM
Lee
Jonathan M
JM
Fawcett
D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009275:Names; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012660:Semantics; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D014825:Vocabulary