Costs and Benefits in Item-Method Directed Forgetting: Differential Effects of Encoding and Retrieval

ABSTRACT

This study examined how encoding and retrieval factors affected directed forgetting costs and benefits in an item-method procedure. Experiment 1 used a typical item-method procedure and revealed a levels-of-processing effect in overall recall. However, the deep encoding condition showed a smaller directed forgetting effect than the shallow encoding conditions. More importantly, “remember” (R) words were selectively rehearsed as indicated by greater recall from the primacy portion of the list and more apt to be recalled before “forget” (F) words. Experiment 2 showed that a deep encoding operation reduced directed forgetting costs and that directed forgetting benefits occurred only when R words were recalled before F words. These findings supported the hypotheses that encoding manipulation affected directed forgetting costs and that directed forgetting benefits were associated with output order bias. Results were discussed in terms of mechanisms that produce item-method directed forgetting.

Keywords:

• levels-of-processing
• output order
• selective rehearsal
• serial position curve

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for the suggestion and idea for conducting Experiment 2. This research was supported by Research Grant NSC-99-2410-H-194-039-MY3 from the National Science Council of the Republic of China. Portions of this research were presented at the Association for Psychological Science 23rd Annual Convention, Washington, DC, USA.