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Working memory capacity predicts listwise directed forgetting in adults and children

  • In listwise directed forgetting, participants are cued to forget previously studied material and to learn new material instead. Such cueing typically leads to forgetting of the first set of material and to memory enhancement of the second. The present study examined the role of working memory capacity in adults' and children's listwise directed forgetting. Working memory capacity was assessed with complex span tasks. In Experiment 1 working memory capacity predicted young adults' directed-forgetting performance, demonstrating a positive relationship between working memory capacity and each of the two directed-forgetting effects. In Experiment 2 we replicated the finding with a sample of first and a sample of fourth-grade children, and additionally showed that working memory capacity can account for age-related increases in directed-forgetting efficiency between the two age groups. Following the view that directed forgetting is mediated by inhibition of the first encoded list, the results support the proposal of a close link between working memory capacity and inhibitory function.

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Metadaten
Author:Alp AslanORCiD, Martina Zellner, Karl-Heinz T. Bäuml
URL:https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211003742698
Parent Title (English):Memory
Document Type:Article (peer reviewed)
Language:English
Publication Year:2010
Tag:Cognitive development; Directed forgetting; Episodic memory; Individual differences; Inhibition; Working memory capacity
Volume:18
Issue:4
First Page:442
Last Page:450
Peer reviewed:Ja