Item-method directed forgetting and working memory capacity: A hierarchical multinomial modeling approach.
Intentional forgetting of information that has recently been encoded is regarded an active and adaptive process and is widely studied using the item-method or the list-method directed forgetting (DF) paradigm. In the present research, we tested whether inter-individual differences in working-memory capacity (WMC), that have been identified as a relevant predictor of DF within the list method, are also related to stronger DF effects within the item method. Furthermore, we investigated relationships between WMC and item-method DF at different processing stages by applying the multinomial storage-retrieval model hierarchically to our data. Results showed that individuals with high WMC are better able to store to-be-remembered information than individuals with low WMC, whereas WMC was not related to retrieval of to-be-remembered information or to either storage or retrieval of to-be-forgotten information. Implications for theoretical accounts of item-method DF are discussed.
1 Department of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Ivan
I
Marevic
2 Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Nina R
NR
Arnold
1 Department of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Jan
J
Rummel
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
Directed forgetting; hierarchical multinomial modeling; item method; storage–retrieval model; working-memory capacity