5.2

Forgetting and Memory Errors

AP Psychology

How quickly do we forget?

Ebbinghaus forgetting curve

Seven reasons for forgetting

1. Encoding failure

2. Storage decay

3. Retrieval failure (tip-of-the-tongue)

4. Proactive interference

5. Retroactive interference

Interference summary

6. Motivated forgetting (repression)

7. Source amnesia (source misattribution)

Memory distortion and construction

Memory is constructive

Elizabeth Loftus and the misinformation effect

False memories

Implications

Other memory phenomena

Déjà vu

Imagination inflation

Overconfidence in memory

Improving memory

AP Exam Tips

Common Mistakes

Key Vocabulary