A psychologist asks people to recall the name of their kindergarten teacher. Surprisingly, the majority of people correctly do t
his and comment, "Gee whiz, I haven't thought about that old bat [or old coot] in years!" Their ability to do so is a severe problem for which theory of forgetting?A) encoding failureB) retroactive interferenceC) decay or disuseD) interference theory
This theory proposes that memory fades due to the mere passage of time. Information is therefore less available for later retrieval as time passes and memory, as well as memory strength, wears away. When an individual learns something new, a neurochemical "memory trace" is created. However, over time this trace slowly disintegrates. Actively rehearsing information is believed to be a major factor counteracting this temporal decline. It is widely believed that neurons die off gradually as we age, yet some older memories can be stronger than most recent memories. Thus, decay or disuse theory mostly affects the short-term memory system, meaning that older memories (in long-term memory) are often more resistant to shocks or physical attacks on the brain. It is also thought that the passage of time alone cannot cause forgetting, and that decay or disuse theory must also take into account some processes that occur as more time passes.
