Forgetting- Definition , Types of Forgetting, Theories of Forgetting, Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, Causes of Forgetting

Forgetting- Definition , Types of Forgetting, Theories of Forgetting, Ebbinghaus forgetting curve Causes of Forgetting

1. FORGETTING- CAUSES OF FORGETTING Suresh Babu G Assistant Professor

2. FORGETTING Forgetting is the loss of the ability to recall or recognize something learned earlier. It is the failure of the individual to revive in consciousness an idea or group of ideas without the help of the original stimulus.

3. Definition of F orgetting Munn :  “Forgetting is the loss permanent or temporary of the ability to recall or recognize something learnt earlier” Drever :  “Forgetting means failure at any time to recall an experience , when attempting to do so or perform an action previously done .

4. Types of Forgetting Natural Forgetting Morbid or Abnormal Forgetting General Forgetting Specific Forgetting Physical Forgetting Psychological Forgetting

5. Kinds of Forgetting Passive or Natural Forgetting : In this, there is no intention of forgetting on the part of the individual. For example, we forget many things with time lapse. Active or morbid forgetting : In this, the individual deliberately tries something. For example, we make deliberate efforts to forget the better experiences of life.

6. The Forgetting Curve Curve of forgetting is a line-graph picturing the decline of retention with lapse of time. Forgetting increases with lapse of time, or in other words retention diminishes with time. It has also been noticed that the rate of forgetting is very initially and then diminished gradually over time. The curve obtained on the graph paper by plotting the amount forgotten as a function of time is named as curve of forgetting. The curve shows a rapid fall immediately after learning, and a gradual flattening out with increase of time interval.

7. Hermann Ebbinghaus  Forgetting Curve The first systematic attempt to study the phenomenon of forgetting was done in 1885 by Herman Ebbinghaus , a German Psychologist. Ebbinghaus started by memorizing lists of words and testing how many he could recall. To avoid the use of association, he then created 2,300 “nonsense syllables”, all three letters long and using the standard word format of consonant-vowel-consonant: for example, “ZUC” and “QAX”. Grouping these into lists, he looked at each syllable for a fraction of a second, pausing for 15 seconds before going through a list again. He did this until he could recite a series correctly at speed. He tested different lengths and different learning intervals, noting the speed of learning and forgetting. Ebbinghaus found that he could remember meaningful material, such as a poem, ten times more easily than his nonsense lists. He also noted that the more times the stimuli (the nonsense syllables) were repeated, the less time was needed to reproduce the memorized information. Also, the first few repetitions proved the most effective in memorizing a list.

8. Theories of Forgetting There are four major theories of forgetting they are : Decay Theory : Which states that time alone causes memory traces to fade. Memory fades through disuse. Interference Theory : Which suggests that other memories interfere with remembering. There is interference from competing materials.

9. Motivated Forgetting Theory : Which suggests that we forget information that is unpleasant or threatening. Retrieval Failure Theory : Which propose that information memory must be distorted when we attempt to recall it. The right retrieval cue is not used. Theories of Forgetting

10. Inadequate impression at the time of learning Lapse of time Interference of association- Proactive Inhibition and Retroactive Inhibition Repression Rise of emotions Alteration of stimulus condition Poor health and defective mental state Age Disease Accidents Biological malfunction of brain and nervous system Causes of Forgetting

11. Don ’ t Forget to learn it ……