On recollections lost: When practice makes imperfect

Recent research has demonstrated that the act of remembering can prompt for getting or, more specifically, the inhibition of specific items in memory ( M. C. Anderson & B. A. Spellman, 1995). This line of inquiry was extended t hrough an investigation of the process and consequences of retrieval-induce d forgetting in social cognition. Across 3 studies, the findings, clarify s everal unresolved issues in the psychology of forgetting. First, it was dem onstrated that retrieval-induced forgetting extends to issues in social cog nition (Experiment 1). Second, forgetting can be elicited even in task cont exts in which perceivers are highly motivated to remember the presented mat erial (Experiment 2). Third, forgetting is not moderated by the amount of r etrieval practice that perceivers experience (Experiment 3). These findings are considered in the context of recent treatments of cognitive inhibition and goal-directed forgetting.