3,205
Views
6
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
REVIEW ARTICLE

Forgetting and emotion regulation in mental health, anxiety and depression

Pages 342-363 | Received 01 Feb 2017, Accepted 16 Jun 2017, Published online: 12 Jul 2017

References

  • Albu, M. (2008). Automatic and intentional inhibition in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Cognition, Brain, Behavior, 12, 233–249.
  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
  • Amir, N., Badour, C. L., & Freese, B. (2009). The effect of retrieval on recall of information in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23(4), 535–540. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2008.10.012
  • Amir, N., Coles, M. E., Brigidi, B., & Foa, E. B. (2001). The effect of practice on recall of emotional information in individuals with generalized social phobia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110(1), 76–82. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.110.1.76
  • Anderson, M. C. (2003). Rethinking interference theory: Executive control and the mechanisms of forgetting. Journal of Memory and Language, 49, 415–445. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2003.08.006
  • Anderson, M. C., Bjork, R., & Bjork, E. (1994). Remembering can cause forgetting: Retrieval dynamics in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20(5), 1063–1087. doi: 10.1037/0278-7393.20.5.1063
  • Anderson, M. C., & Green, C. (2001). Suppressing unwanted memories by executive control. Nature, 410, 366–369. doi: 10.1038/35066572
  • Anderson, M. C., & Hanslmayr, S. (2014). Neural mechanisms of motivated forgetting. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(6), 279–292. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.03.002
  • Anderson, M. C., & Levy, B. J. (2006). Encouraging the nascent cognitive neuroscience of repression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(5), 511–513. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X0622911X
  • Anderson, M. C., & Levy, B. (2009). Suppressing unwanted memories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 189–194. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01634.x
  • Bahrick, H. P., Hall, L. K., & Berger, S. A. (1996). Accuracy and distortion in memory for high school grades. Psychological Science, 7, 265–271. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00372.x
  • Bar-Haim, Y., Lamy, D., Pergamin, L., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2007). Threat-related attentional bias in anxious and nonanxious individuals: A meta-analytic study. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 1–24. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.1
  • Barber, S. J., & Mather, M. (2012). Forgetting in context: The effects of age, emotion, and social factors on retrieval-induced forgetting. Memory & Cognition, 40, 874–888. doi: 10.3758/s13421-012-0202-8
  • Barnier, A. J., Conway, M. A., Mayoh, L., Speyer, J., Avizmil, O., & Harris, C. B. (2007). Directed forgetting of recently recalled autobiographical memories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(2), 301–322. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.136.2.301
  • Barnier, A., Hung, L., & Conway, M. (2004). Retrieval-induced forgetting of emotional and unemotional autobiographical memories. Cognition and Emotion, 18, 457–477. doi: 10.1080/0269993034000392
  • Barry, T., Vervliet, B., & Hermans, D. (2015). An integrative review of attention biases and their contribution to treatment for anxiety disorders. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–15.
  • Bastian, B., Kuppens, P., De Roover, K., & Diener, E. (2014). Is valuing positive emotion associated with life satisfaction? Emotion, 14(4), 639–645. doi: 10.1037/a0036466
  • Baumann, M., Zwissler, B., Schalinski, I., Ruf-Leuschner, M., Schauer, M., & Kissler, J. (2013). Directed forgetting in post-traumatic-stress-disorder: A study of refugee immigrants in Germany. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 7(94), 1–8.
  • Beck, A. T., & Bredemeier, A. (2016). A unified model of depression: Integrating clinical, cognitive, biological, and evolutionary perspectives. Clinical Psychological Science, 4(4), 596–619. doi: 10.1177/2167702616628523
  • Benoit, R. G., & Anderson, M. C. (2012). Opposing mechanisms support the voluntary forgetting of unwanted memories. Neuron, 76, 450–460. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.07.025
  • Benoit, R. G., Davies, D. J., & Anderson, M. C. (2016). Reducing future fears by suppressing the brain mechanisms underlying episodic simulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(52), E8492–E8501. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1606604114
  • Berntsen, D. (1996). Involuntary autobiographical memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10, 435–454. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199610)10:5<435::AID-ACP408>3.0.CO;2-L
  • Bishop, S. J. (2007). Neurocognitive mechanisms of anxiety: An integrative account. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 307–316. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2007.05.008
  • Bjork, R. A. (1989). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in human memory. In H. L. Roediger & F. I. M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory and consciousness: Essays in honour of Endel Tulving (pp. 309–330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Bjork, E. L., Bjork, R. A., & MacLeod, M. D. (2006). Types and consequences of forgetting: Intended and unintended. In L. G. Nilsson & N. Ohta (Eds.), Memory and society: Psychological perspectives (pp. 134–158). London: Psychology Press.
  • Bonanno, G. A. (2006). The illusion of repressed memory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(5), 515–516. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X06259119
  • Brewin, C. R. (2001). A cognitive neuroscience account of posttraumatic stress disorder and its treatment. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 373–393. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7967(00)00087-5
  • Brewin, C. R., Dalgleish, T., & Joseph, S. (1996). A dual representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Review, 103(4), 670–686. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.103.4.670
  • Brewin, C. R., Gregory, J. D., Lipton, M., & Burgess, N. (2010). Intrusive images in psychological disorders: Characteristics, neural mechanisms, and treatment implications. Psychological Review, 117(1), 210–232. doi: 10.1037/a0018113
  • Bäuml, K. H., & Kuhbandner, C. (2007). Remembering can cause forgetting: But not in negative moods. Psychological Science, 18, 111–115. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01857.x
  • Catarino, A., Küpper, C. S., Werner-Seidler, A., Dalgleish, T., & Anderson, M. C. (2015). Failing to forget: Inhibitory-control deficits compromise memory suppression in posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Science, 26(5), 604–616. doi: 10.1177/0956797615569889
  • Chen, C., Liu, C., Huang, R., Cheng, D., Wu, H., Xu, P., … Lou, Y. (2012). Suppression of aversive memories associates with changes in early and late stages of neurocognitive processing. Neuropsychologia, 50, 2839–2848. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.08.004
  • Compton, R. J. (2003). The interface between emotion and attention: A review of evidence from psychology and neuroscience. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 2, 115–129. doi: 10.1177/1534582303002002003
  • Conway, M. A. (2005). Memory and the self. Journal of Memory and Language, 53(4), 594–628. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2005.08.005
  • Cottencin, O., Gruat, G., Thomas, P., Devos, P., Goudemand, M., & Consoli, S. (2008). Directed forgetting in depression. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 14, 895–899. doi: 10.1017/S1355617708081186
  • Cottencin, O., Vaiva, G., Huron, C., Devos, P., Ducrocq, F., Jouvent, R., … Thomas, P. (2006). Directed forgetting in PTSD: A comparative study versus normal controls. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 40(1), 70–80. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2005.04.001
  • Croucher, C. J., Calder, A. J., Ramponi, C., Barnard, P. J., & Murphy, F. C. (2011). Disgust enhances the recollection of negative emotional images. PLoS One, 6(11), e26571. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026571
  • Cubelli, R. (2010). A new taxonomy of memory and forgetting. In S. D. Sala (Ed.), Forgetting (pp. 35–48). East Sussex: Psychology Press.
  • Dalgleish, T., & Werner-Seidler, A. (2014). Disruptions in autobiographical memory processing in depression and the emergence of memory therapeutics. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(11), 596–604. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.06.010
  • Dehli, L., & Brennen, T. (2009). Does retrieval-induced forgetting occur for emotional stimuli? Cognition and Emotion, 23, 1056–1068. doi: 10.1080/02699930802285221
  • DePrince, A. P. & Freyd, J. J. (2014). Trauma-induced dissociation. In M. J. Friedman, T. M. Keane, & P. A. Resick (Eds.), Handbook of PTSD: Science & practice (2nd ed., pp. 219–233). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  • Depue, B. E., Banich, M. T., & Curran, T. (2006). Suppression of emotional and nonemotional content in memory: Effects of repetition on cognitive control. Psychological Science, 17(5), 441–447. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01725.x
  • Depue, B. E., Curran, T., & Banich, M. T. (2007). Prefrontal regions orchestrate suppression of emotional memories via a two-phase process. Science, 317, 215–219. doi: 10.1126/science.1139560
  • Detre, G. J., Natarajan, A., Gershman, S. J., & Norman, K. A. (2013). Moderate levels of activation lead to forgetting in the think/no-think paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 51(12), 2371–2388. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.02.017
  • Diehl, M., Hay, E. L., & Berg, K. M. (2011). The ratio between positive and negative affect and flourishing mental health across adulthood. Aging & Mental Health, 15(7), 882–893. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2011.569488
  • Dieler, A. C., Herrmann, M. J., & Fallgatter, A. J. (2014). Voluntary suppression of thoughts is influenced by anxious and ruminative tendencies in healthy volunteers. Memory, 22(3), 184–193. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2013.774420
  • Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
  • Diener, E., Kanazawa, S., Suh, E. M., & Oishi, S. (2015). Why people are in a generally good mood. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19(3), 235–256. doi: 10.1177/1088868314544467
  • Ehlers, A., Mayou, R. A., & Bryant, B. (1998). Psychological predictors of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder after motor vehicle accidents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107(3), 508–519. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.107.3.508
  • Erdelyi, M. H. (2006). The unified theory of repression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(5), 499–551.
  • Fawcett, J. M., Benoit, R. G., Gagnepain, P., Salman, A., Bartholdy, S., Bradley, C., … Anderson, M. C. (2015). The origins of repetitive thought in rumination: Separating cognitive style from deficits in inhibitory control over memory. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 47, 1–8. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.10.009
  • Ferguson, G. V. (2003). An examination of the fading affect bias in Native Americans. Paper presented at the Fourth Annual Mid-South Psychology Conference, Jackson, TN.
  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 359, 1367–1377. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1512
  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Updated thinking on positivity ratios. American Psychologist, 68(9), 814–822. doi: 10.1037/a0033584
  • Freud, S. (1915/1991). Repression. In P. Rieff (Ed.), General psychological theory: Papers on metapsychology (pp. 95–108). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
  • Gazendam, F. J., Kamphuis, J. H., & Kindt, M. (2013). Deficient safety learning characterizes high trait anxious individuals. Biological Psychology, 92(2), 342–352. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.11.006
  • Gibbons, J. A., Lee, S. A., & Walker, W. R. (2011). The fading affect bias begins within 12 hours and persists for 3 months. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 663–672. doi: 10.1002/acp.1738
  • Gibbons, J. A., Toscano, A., Kofron, S., Rothwell, C., Lee, S. A., Ritchie, T. D., & Walker, W. R. (2013). The fading affect bias across alcohol consumption frequency for alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related events. Consciousness and Cognition, 22(4), 1340–1351. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.09.004
  • Giebl, S., Storm, B. C., Buchli, D. R., Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2016). Retrieval-induced forgetting is associated with increased positivity when imagining the future. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(2), 351–360. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2015.1085586
  • Gómez-Ariza, C. J., Iglesias-Parro, S., Garcia-Lopez, L. J., Díaz-Castela, M. M., Espinosa-Fernández, L., & Muela, J. A. (2013). Selective intentional forgetting in adolescents with social anxiety disorder. Psychiatry Research, 208, 151–155. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.09.027
  • Green, J. D., Pinter, B., & Sedikides, C. (2005). Mnemic neglect and self-threat: Trait modifiability moderates self-protection. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 225–235. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.242
  • Green, J. D., & Sedikides, C. (2004). Retrieval selectivity in the processing of self-referent information: Testing the boundaries of self-protection. Self and Identity, 3, 69–80.
  • Green, J. D., Sedikides, C., Pinter, B., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2009). Two sides to self-protection: Self-improvement strivings and feedback from close relationships eliminate mnemic neglect. Self and Identity, 8, 233–250. doi: 10.1080/15298860802505145
  • Groome, D., & Sterkaj, F. (2010). Retrieval-induced forgetting and clinical depression. Cognition and Emotion, 24(1), 63–70. doi: 10.1080/02699930802536219
  • Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271–299. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271
  • Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26, 1–26. doi: 10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781
  • Gross, J. J., & Jazaieri, H. (2014). Emotion, emotion regulation, and psychopathology: An affective science perspective. Clinical Psychological Science, 2(4), 387–401. doi: 10.1177/2167702614536164
  • Gross, J. J., & Muñoz, R. F. (1995). Emotion regulation and mental health. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2, 151–164. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2850.1995.tb00036.x
  • Gross, J. J., Richards, J. M., & John, O. P. (2006). Emotion regulation in everyday life. In D. K. Snyder, J. Simpson, & J. N. Hughes (Eds.), Emotion regulation in couples and families: Pathways to dysfunction and health (pp. 13–35). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Gruber, J., Mauss, I. B., & Tamir, M. (2011). A dark side of happiness? How, when, and why happiness is not always good. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(3), 222–233. doi: 10.1177/1745691611406927
  • Hackenbracht, J., & Tamir, M. (2010). Preferences for sadness when eliciting help: Instrumental motives in sadness regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 34, 306–315. doi: 10.1007/s11031-010-9180-y
  • Hardt, O., Einarsson, E. O., & Nader, K. (2010). A bridge over troubled water: Reconsolidation as a link between cognitive and neuroscientific memory research traditions. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 141–167. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100455
  • Harris, C. B., Sharman, S. J., Barnier, A. J., & Moulds, M. L. (2010). Mood and retrieval-induced forgetting of positive and negative autobiographical memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(3), 399–413. doi: 10.1002/acp.1685
  • Hermans, D., Raes, F., Iberico, C., & Williams, J. M. G. (2006). Reduced autobiographical memory specificity, avoidance, and repression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(5), 522. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X06329111
  • Hertel, P. T. (2007). Impairments in inhibition or cognitive control in psychological disorders. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 12, 149–153. doi: 10.1016/j.appsy.2007.09.006
  • Hertel, P. T., & Gerstle, M. (2003). Depressive deficits in forgetting. Psychological Science, 14, 573–578. doi: 10.1046/j.0956-7976.2003.psci_1467.x
  • Hertel, T., & Mahan, A. (2008). Depression-related differences in learning and forgetting responses to unrelated cues. Acta Psychologica, 127, 636–644. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.11.004
  • Hirst, W., & Phelps, E. A. (2016). Flashbulb memories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(1), 36–41. doi: 10.1177/0963721415622487
  • Holland, A. C., & Kensinger, E. A. (2010). Emotion and autobiographical memory. Physics of Life Reviews, 7, 88–131. doi: 10.1016/j.plrev.2010.01.006
  • Holmes, D. S. (1970). Differential change in affective intensity and the forgetting of unpleasant personal experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 15, 234–239. doi: 10.1037/h0029394
  • Itoh, M. (2011). Effects of emotionally valent material on directed forgetting. The Japanese Journal of Psychology, 81(6), 602–609. doi: 10.4992/jjpsy.81.602
  • Johnson, S. L. (2007). Cognitive inhibition across psychopathologies. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 12, 97–98. doi: 10.1016/j.appsy.2007.11.001
  • Joormann, J. (2010). Cognitive inhibition and emotion regulation in depression. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(3), 161–166. doi: 10.1177/0963721410370293
  • Joormann, J., Hertel, P. T., Brozovich, F., & Gotlib, I. H. (2005). Remembering the good, forgetting the bad: Intentional forgetting of emotional material in depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 640–648. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.114.4.640
  • Joormann, J., Hertel, P. T., LeMoult, J., & Gotlib, I. H. (2009). Training intentional forgetting of negative material in depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 34–43. doi: 10.1037/a0013794
  • Joormann, J., & Tran, T. (2009). Rumination and intentional forgetting of emotional material. Cognition and Emotion, 23, 1233–1246. doi: 10.1080/02699930802416735
  • Josephson, B. R., Singer, J. A., & Salovey, P. (1996). Mood regulation and memory: Repairing sad moods with happy memories. Cognition and Emotion, 10, 437–444. doi: 10.1080/026999396380222
  • Kenny, L. M., & Bryant, R. A. (2013). Retrieval inhibition in posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(1), 35–42. doi: 10.1037/a0029337
  • Kihlstrom, J. F. (2006). Repression: A unified theory of a will-o’-the-wisp. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(5), 523. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X06339118
  • Kindt, M., Soeter, M., & Vervliet, B. (2009). Beyond extinction: Erasing human fear responses and preventing the return of fear. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 256–258. doi: 10.1038/nn.2271
  • Kircanski, K., Johnson, D. C., Mateen, M., Bjork, R. A., & Gotlib, I. H. (2016). Impaired retrieval inhibition of threat material in generalized anxiety disorder. Clinical Psychological Science, 4(2), 320–327. doi: 10.1177/2167702615590996
  • Kircanski, K., Joormann, J., & Gotlib, I. H. (2012). Cognitive aspects of depression. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 3(3), 301–313. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1177
  • Kobayashi, M., & Tanno, Y. (2013). Retrieval-induced forgetting of words with negative emotionality. Memory, 21(3), 315–323. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2012.725741
  • Kobayashi, M., & Tanno, Y. (2015). Remembering episodic memories is not necessary for forgetting of negative words: Semantic retrieval can cause forgetting of negative words. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 22, 766–771. doi: 10.3758/s13423-014-0719-x
  • Koessler, S., Engler, H., Riether, C., & Kissler, J. (2009). No retrieval-induced forgetting under stress. Psychological Science, 20(11), 1356–1363. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02450.x
  • Koessler, S., Steidle, L., Engler, H., & Kissler, J. (2013). Stress eliminates retrieval-induced forgetting—Does the oral application of cortisol? Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38, 94–106. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.05.004
  • Koole, S. L. (2009). The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Cognition and Emotion, 23(1), 4–41. doi: 10.1080/02699930802619031
  • Küpper, C. S., Benoit, R. G., Dalgleish, T., & Anderson, M. C. (2014). Direct suppression as a mechanism for controlling unpleasant memories in daily life. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 1443–1449. doi: 10.1037/a0036518
  • Kredlow, M. A., Unger, L. D., & Otto, M. W. (2016). Harnessing reconsolidation to weaken fear and appetitive memories: A meta-analysis of post-retrieval extinction effects. Psychological Bulletin, 142(3), 314–336. doi: 10.1037/bul0000034
  • Kring, A. M., & Sloan, D. S. (2009). Emotion regulation and psychopathology. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  • Kuhbandner, C., Bäuml, K. H., & Stiedl, F. (2009). Retrieval-induced forgetting of negative stimuli: The role of emotional intensity. Cognition and Emotion, 23, 817–830. doi: 10.1080/02699930802204768
  • Lane, R. D., Ryan, L., Nadel, L., & Greenberg, L. (2015). Memory reconsolidation, emotional arousal, and the process of change in psychotherapy: New insights from brain science. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38, 1–19. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X14000041
  • Langnickel, R., & Markowitsch, H. (2006). Repression and the unconscious. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(5), 425–426. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X06359110
  • Larsen, R. J. (2000). Toward a science of mood regulation. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 129–141. doi: 10.1207/S15327965PLI1103_01
  • Law, R., Groome, D., Thorn, L., Potts, R., & Buchanan, T. (2012). The relationship between retrieval-induced forgetting, anxiety, and personality. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 25(6), 711–718. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2011.630070
  • Leahy, R. L. (1999). Decision making and mania. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 13, 83–105.
  • LeDoux, J. (2003). The emotional brain, fear, and the amygdala. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, 23(4/5), 727–738. doi: 10.1023/A:1025048802629
  • Levy, B. J., & Anderson, M. C. (2008). Individual differences in the suppression of unwanted memories: The executive deficit hypothesis. Acta Psychologica, 127, 623–635. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.12.004
  • Liu, Y., Lin, W., Liu, C., Luo, Y., Wu, J., Bayley, P. J., & Qin, S. (2016). Memory consolidation reconfigures neural pathways involved in the suppression of emotional memories. Nature Communications, 43(119), 2289–2299.
  • Lonergan, M. H., Olivera-Figueroa, L. A., Pitman, R. K., & Brunet, A. (2013). Propranolol’s effects on the consolidation and reconsolidation of long-term emotional memory in healthy participants: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, 38(4), 222–231. doi: 10.1503/jpn.120111
  • MacLeod, C. M., Dodd, M. D., Sheard, E. D., Wilson, D. E., & Bibi, U. (2003). In opposition to inhibition. In B. H. Ross (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 43, pp. 163–214). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
  • MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. (2012). Cognitive bias modification approaches to anxiety. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 8, 189–217. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143052
  • Macrae, C. N., & Roseveare, T. A. (2002). I was always on my mind: The self and temporary forgetting. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9, 611–614. doi:10.3758/BF03196320
  • Marchewka, A., Wypych, M., Michałowski, J. M., Sińczuk, M., Wordecha, M., Jednoróg, K., & Nowicka, A. (2016). What is the effect of basic emotions on directed forgetting? Investigating the role of basic emotions in memory. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 415. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00378
  • Marzi, T., Regina, A., & Righi, S. (2014). Emotions shape memory suppression in trait anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 4(1001), 1–10.
  • Mather, M., & Carstensen, L. L. (2005). Aging and motivated cognition: The positivity effect in attention and memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(10), 496–502. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.08.005
  • McNally, R. J. (2005). Debunking myths about trauma and memory. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 50(13), 817–822.
  • Michael, T., Blechert, J., Vriends, N., Margraf, J., & Wilhelm, F. H. (2007). Fear conditioning in panic disorder: Enhanced resistance to extinction. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(3), 612–617. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.116.3.612
  • Milad, M. R., Orr, S. P., Lasko, N. B., Chang, Y., Rauch, S. L., & Pitman, R. K. (2008). Presence and acquired origin of reduced recall for fear extinction in PTSD: Results of a twin study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 42(7), 515–520. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.01.017
  • Mineka, S., Rafaeli, E., & Yovel, I. (2003). Cognitive biases in emotional disorders: Social-cognitive and information processing perspectives. In R. J. Davidson, K.R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 976–1009). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Minnema, M. T., & Knowlton, B. J. (2008). Directed forgetting of emotional words. Emotion, 8(5), 643–652. doi: 10.1037/a0013441
  • Mitte, K. (2008). Memory bias for threatening information in anxiety and anxiety disorders: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 134(6), 886–911. doi: 10.1037/a0013343
  • Moulds, M. L., & Kandris, E. (2006). The effect of practice on recall of negative material in dysphoria. Journal of Affective Disorders, 91, 269–272. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2006.01.003
  • Murayama, K., Miyatsu, T., Buchli, D., & Storm, B. C. (2014). Forgetting as a consequence of retrieval: A meta-analytic review of retrieval-induced forgetting. Psychological Bulletin, 140(5), 1383–1409. doi: 10.1037/a0037505
  • Nairne, J. S., & Pandeirada, J. N. S. (2010). Adaptive memory: Nature’s criterion and the functionalist agenda. The American Journal of Psychology, 123, 381–390. doi: 10.5406/amerjpsyc.123.4.0381
  • Najmi, S., & Wegner, D. M. (2006). The United States of repression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(5), 528–529. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X06399116
  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2000). The role of rumination in depressive disorders and mixed anxiety/depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(3), 504–511. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.109.3.504
  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Rethinking rumination. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 400–424. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00088.x
  • Noreen, S., & MacLeod, M. D. (2013). It’s all in the detail: Intentional forgetting of autobiographical memories using the autobiographical think/no-think task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(2), 375–393. doi: 10.1037/a0028888
  • Noreen, S., & MacLeod, M. D. (2014). To think or not to think, that is the question: Individual differences in suppression and rebound effects in autobiographical memory. Acta Psychologica, 145, 84–97. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.10.011
  • Noreen, S., & Ridout, N. (2016). Intentional forgetting in dysphoria: Investigating the inhibitory effects of thought substitution using independent cues. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 52, 110–118. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2016.04.002
  • Norris, C. J., Gollan, J., Berntson, G. G., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). The current status of research on the structure of affective space. Biological Psychology: Special Issue on Emotion, 84, 422–436.
  • Norris, C. J., Larsen, J. T., Crawford, L. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2011). Better (or worse) for some than others: Individual differences in the positivity offset and negativity bias. Journal of Research in Personality, 45, 100–111. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2010.12.001
  • Nørby, S. (2015). Why forget? On the adaptive value of memory loss. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(5), 551–578. doi: 10.1177/1745691615596787
  • Nørby, S., Lange, M., & Larsen, A. (2010). Forgetting to forget: On the duration of voluntary suppression of neutral and emotional memories. Acta Psychologica, 133, 73–80. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2009.10.002
  • Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2005). The cognitive control of emotion. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(5), 242–249. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.03.010
  • Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Cognitive emotion regulation: Insights from social cognitive and affective neuroscience. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(2), 153–158. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00566.x
  • Patrick, R. E., & Christensen, B. K. (2013). Reduced directed forgetting for negative words suggests schizophrenia-related disinhibition of emotional cues. Psychological Medicine, 43(11), 2289–2299. doi: 10.1017/S0033291713000445
  • Payne, B. K., & Corrigan, E. (2007). Emotional constraints on intentional forgetting. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 780–786. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2006.07.005
  • Piet, J., & Hougaard, E. (2011). The effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of relapse in recurrent major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(6), 1032–1040. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.05.002
  • Pinter, B., Green, J. D., Sedikides, C., & Gregg, A. P. (2011). Self-protective memory: Separation/integration as a mechanism for mnemic neglect. Social Cognition, 29, 612–624. doi: 10.1521/soco.2011.29.5.612
  • Power, M., Dalgleish, T., Claudio, V., Tata, P., & Kentish, J. (2000). The directed forgetting task: Application to emotionally valent material. Journal of Affective Disorders, 57, 147–157. doi: 10.1016/S0165-0327(99)00084-1
  • Quirin, M., & Lane, R. D. (2012). The construction of emotional experience requires the integration of implicit and explicit emotional processes. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 35, 159–160. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X11001737
  • Raaijmakers, J. G. W., & Jakab, E. (2013). Rethinking inhibition theory: On the problematic status of the inhibition theory for forgetting. Journal of Memory and Language, 68, 98–122. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2012.10.002
  • Ribot, T. A. (1882). Diseases of memory: An essay in the positive psychology. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
  • Richards, J. M. (2004). The cognitive consequences of concealing feelings. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 131–134. doi: 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00291.x
  • Ritchie, T. D., Batteson, T. J., Bohn, A., Crawford, M. T., Ferguson, G. V., Schrauf, R. W., … Walker, W. R. (2015). A pancultural perspective on the fading affect bias in autobiographical memory. Memory, 23(2), 278–290. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2014.884138
  • Ritchie, T. D., & Skowronski, J. J. (2008). Perceived change in the affect associated with dreams: The fading affect bias and its moderators. Dreaming, 18, 27–43. doi: 10.1037/1053-0797.18.1.27
  • Ritchie, T. D., Skowronski, J. J., Hartnett, J. L., Wells, B., & Walker, R. W. (2009). The fading affect bias in the context of emotion activation level, mood, and personal theories of emotion change. Memory, 17, 428–444. doi: 10.1080/09658210902791665
  • Ritchie, T. D., Skowronski, J. J., Wood, S. E., Walker, W. R., Vogl, R. J., Gibbons, J. A. (2006). Event self-importance, event rehearsal, and the fading affect bias in autobiographical memory. Self and Identity, 5, 172–195. doi: 10.1080/15298860600591222
  • Ritchie, T. D., Walker, R. W., Marsh, S., Hart, C. M., & Skowronski, J. J. (2015). Narcissism distorts the fading affect bias in autobiographical memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29(1), 104–114. doi: 10.1002/acp.3082
  • Sahakyan, L., Delaney, P. F., Foster, N. L., & Abushanab, B. (2013). List-method directed forgetting in cognitive and clinical research: A theoretical and methodological review. In B. H. Ross (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 59, pp. 131–190). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Sahakyan, L., & Kelley, C. M. (2002). A contextual change account of the directed forgetting effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 1064–1072. doi: 10.1037/0278-7393.28.6.1064
  • Saunders, J. (2011). Reversed mnemic neglect of self-threatening memories in dysphoria. Cognition and Emotion, 25, 854–867. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2010.524037
  • Saunders, J. (2013). Selective memory bias for self-threatening memories in trait anxiety. Cognition and Emotion, 27(1), 21–36. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2012.683851
  • Saunders, J., Worth, R., & Fernandes, M. (2012). Repressive coping style and mnemic neglect. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 3(3), 346–367.
  • Schacter, D. L., Addis, D. R., & Buckner, R. L. (2007). Remembering the past to imagine the future: The prospective brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 8, 657–661. doi: 10.1038/nrn2213
  • Schiller, D., Monfils, M., Raio, C. M., Johnson, D. C., LeDoux, J. E., & Phelps, E. A. (2010). Preventing the return of fear in humans using reconsolidation update mechanisms. Nature, 463, 49–53. doi: 10.1038/nature08637
  • Schilling, C. J., Storm, B. C., & Anderson, M. C. (2014). Examining the costs and benefits of inhibition in memory retrieval. Cognition, 133, 358–370. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.07.003
  • Schwabe, L., Nader, K., & Pruessner, J. C. (2014). Reconsolidation of human memory: Brain mechanisms and clinical relevance. Biological Psychiatry, 76(4), 274–280. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.03.008
  • Schweizer, S., Grahn, J., Hampshire, A., Mobbs, D., & Dalgleish, T. (2013). Training the emotional brain: Improving affective control through emotional working memory training. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(12), 5301–5311. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2593-12.2013
  • Sedikides, C., & Green, J. D. (2000). On the self-protective nature of inconsistency/negativity management: Using the person memory paradigm to examine self-referent memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 906–922. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.79.6.906
  • Sedikides, C., & Green, J. D. (2004). What I don’t recall can’t hurt me: Information negativity versus information inconsistency as determinants of memorial self-defense. Social Cognition, 22(1), 4–29. doi: 10.1521/soco.22.1.4.30987
  • Sedikides, C., Green, J. D., Saunders, J., Skowronski, J. J., & Zengel, B. (2016). Mnemic neglect: Selective amnesia of one’s faults. European Review of Social Psychology, 27(1), 1–62. doi: 10.1080/10463283.2016.1183913
  • Sedikides, C., & Gregg, A. (2008). Self-enhancement: Food for thought. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 102–116. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00068.x
  • Shiota, M. N. (2014). The evolutionary perspective in positive emotion research. In M. M. Tugade, M. N. Shiota, & L. D. Kirby (Eds.), Handbook of positive emotions (pp. 60–81). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  • Skowronski, J. J. (2011). The positivity bias and the fading affect bias in autobiographical memory: A self-motives perspective. In C. Sedikides, & M. D. Alicke (Eds.), Handbook of self-enhancement and self-protection (pp. 211–231). New York, NY: Guildford Press.
  • Skowronski, J. J., Walker, W. R., Henderson, D. X., & Bond, G. D. (2014). The fading affect bias: Its history, its implications, and its future. In M. P. Zanna & J. M. Olson (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 49, pp. 163–218). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
  • Smith, R. E., & Hunt, R. R. (2000). The influence of distinctive processing on retrieval-induced forgetting. Memory & Cognition, 28, 503–508. doi: 10.3758/BF03201240
  • Smith, R., & Lane, R. D. (2016). Unconscious emotion: A cognitive neuroscientific perspective. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Review, 69, 216–238. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.08.013
  • Soeter, M., & Kindt, M. (2013). High trait anxiety: A challenge for disrupting fear memory reconsolidation. PLoS One, 8(11), e75239. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075239
  • Squire, L. R., & Alvarez, P. (1995). Retrograde amnesia and memory consolidation: A neurobiological perspective. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 5, 169–177. doi: 10.1016/0959-4388(95)80023-9
  • Squire, L. R., & Dede, A. J. O. (2015). Conscious and unconscious memory systems. In E. Kandel, Y. Dudai, & M. Mayford (Eds.), Perspectives in biology: Learning and memory (pp. 1–14). Cold Spring Harbor: Cold Spring Harbor .
  • Steinfurth, E. C., Kanen, J. W., Raio, C. M., Clem, R. L., Huganir, R. L., & Phelps, E. A. (2014). Young and old pavlovian fear memories can be modified with extinction training during reconsolidation in humans. Learning & Memory, 21(7), 338–341. doi: 10.1101/lm.033589.113
  • Stephens, E., Braid, A., & Hertel, P. T. (2013). Suppression-induced reduction in the specificity of autobiographical memories. Clinical Psychological Science, 1(2), 163–169. doi: 10.1177/2167702612467773
  • Storm, B. C. (2011a). The benefit of forgetting in thinking and remembering. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 291–295. doi: 10.1177/0963721411418469
  • Storm, B. C. (2011b). Retrieval-induced forgetting and the resolution of competition. In A. S. Benjamin (Ed.), Successful remembering and successful forgetting: A Festschrift in honor of Robert A. Bjork (pp. 89–105). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
  • Storm, B. C., & Jobe, T. A. (2012). Retrieval-induced forgetting predicts failure to recall negative autobiographical memories. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1356–1363. doi: 10.1177/0956797612443837
  • Streb, M., Mecklinger, A., Anderson, M. C., Lass-Hennemann, J., & Michael, T. (2016). Memory control ability modulates intrusive memories after analogue trauma. Journal of Affective Disorders, 192, 134–142. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.12.032
  • Sutton, J. (2009). Adaptive misbeliefs and false memories. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32(6), 535–536. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X09991488
  • Tamir, M. (2016). Why do people regulate their emotions? A taxonomy of motives in emotion regulation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 20(3), 199–222. doi: 10.1177/1088868315586325
  • Teachman, B. A., Joormann, J., Steinman, S. A., & Gotlib, I. H. (2012). Automaticity in anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 32(6), 575–603. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2012.06.004
  • Tice, D. M., Baumeister, R. F., & Zhang, L. (2004). The role of emotion in self-regulation: Differing roles of positive and negative emotions. In P. Philippot & R. S. Feldman (Eds.), The regulation of emotion (pp. 213–226). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Tulving, E. (1974). Cue-dependent forgetting. American Scientist, 62, 74–82.
  • Vaillant, G. E. (2003). Mental health. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(8), 1373–1384. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.8.1373
  • van Beek, W., Berghuis, H., Kerkhof, A., & Beekman, A. (2011). Time perspective, personality and psychopathology: Zimbardo’s time perspective inventory in psychiatry. Time and Society, 20, 364–374. doi: 10.1177/0961463X10373960
  • Van Schie, K., Geraerts, E., & & Anderson, M. C. (2013). Emotional and non-emotional memories are suppressible under direct suppression instructions. Cognition and Emotion, 27, 1122–1131. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2013.765387
  • Verbruggen, F., & Logan, G. D. (2008). Automatic and controlled response inhibition: Associative learning in the go/no-go and stop-signal paradigms. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137(4), 649–672. doi: 10.1037/a0013170
  • Walker, W. R., & Skowronski, J. J. (2009). The fading affect bias: But what the hell is it for? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 1122–1136. doi: 10.1002/acp.1614
  • Walker, W. R., Skowronski, J. J., Gibbons, J. A., Vogl, R. J., & Ritchie, T. D. (2009). Why people rehearse their memories: Frequency of use and effects on the intensity of emotions associated with autobiographical memories. Memory, 17, 760–773. doi: 10.1080/09658210903107846
  • Walker, W. R., Skowronski, J. J., Gibbons, J. A., Vogl, R. J., & Thompson, C. P. (2003). On the emotions that accompany autobiographical memories: Dysphoria disrupts the fading affect bias. Cognition and Emotion, 17, 703–723. doi: 10.1080/02699930302287
  • Walker, W. R., Skowronski, J. J., & Thompson, C. P. (2003). Life is pleasant – and memory helps to keep it that way! Review of General Psychology, 7, 203–210. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.7.2.203
  • Walker, W. R., Vogl, R. J., & Thompson, C. P. (1997). Autobiographical memory: Unpleasantness fades faster than pleasantness over time. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 11(5), 399–413. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199710)11:5<399::AID-ACP462>3.0.CO;2-E
  • Walker, W. R., Yancu, C. N., & Skowronski, J. J. (2014). Trait anxiety reduces affective fading for both positive and negative autobiographical memories. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 10(3), 81–89. doi: 10.5709/acp-0159-0
  • Watkins, E. R., Mullan, E., Wingrove, J., Rimes, K., Steiner, H., Bathurst, N., … Scott, J. (2011). Rumination-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy for residual depression: Phase II randomised controlled trial. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 199(4), 317–322. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.090282
  • Wegner, D. M. (2009). How to think, say, or do precisely the worst thing for any occasion. Science, 325, 48–50. doi: 10.1126/science.1167346
  • Wessel, I., & Hauer, B. J. A. (2006). Retrieval-induced forgetting of autobiographical memory details. Cognition and Emotion, 20, 430–447. doi: 10.1080/02699930500342464
  • Wessel, I., & Merckelbach, H. (2006). Forgetting “murder” is not harder than forgetting “circle”: Listwise-directed forgetting of emotional words. Cognition and Emotion, 20(1), 129–137. doi: 10.1080/02699930500260195
  • WHO. (2016, April). Mental health: Strengthening our response (Fact sheet). Retrieved from http://who.int/mediacentre/factsheets
  • Williams, J. M., Watts, F. N., MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. (1997). Cognitive psychology and emotional disorders (2nd ed.). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Wingenfeld, K., Terfehr, K., Meyer, B., Löwe, B., & Spitzer, C. (2013). Memory bias for emotional and illness-related words in patients with depression, anxiety and somatization disorders: An investigation with the directed forgetting task. Psychopathology, 46, 22–27. doi: 10.1159/000338609
  • Wixted, J. T. (2005). A theory about why we forget what we once knew. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 6–9. doi: 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00324.x
  • Yang, W., Chen, Q., Liu, P., Cheng, H., Cui, Q., Wei, D., … Qiu, J. (2016). Abnormal brain activation during directed forgetting of negative memory in depressed patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 190, 880–888. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.05.034
  • Zeelenberg, R., Wagenmakers, E. J., & Rotteveel, M. (2006). The impact of emotion on perception: Bias or enhanced processing? Psychological Science, 17(4), 287–291. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01700.x
  • Zengel, B., Skowronski, J. J., & Valentiner, D. P. (2015). Loss of mnemic neglect among socially anxious individuals. Cognition and Emotion, 27(1), 21–36.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.