An associative learning account for retrieval-induced forgetting
- Laura Hiatt, US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
- Steven Jones, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
AbstractRetrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) is a paradigm where repeated study and cue-based retrieval of words impair retrieval of related, but unstudied, words. We present a process model, situated in the ACT-R/E cognitive architecture, that accounts for the RIF task using the architecture's overarching theory of associative learning. In this theory, studying words strengthens their association with their related cues; this, in turn, weakens the association between those cues and any other words they are related to. We show this account fits a recent dataset that explores cueing in the RIF task (Perfect et al., 2004).