The enigma of forgetting
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Studies suggest that power functions from classical memory experiments, although primarily obtained with non-sense verbal material on a timescale of minutes to months, are applicable to other memory domains, including visual memory.
“Although primarily obtained with non-sense verbal material on a timescale of minutes to months, studies suggest the applicability to other memory domains, including visual memory31,32.”
From Long-term Memory Reorganization of Navigational Episodes (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
In “The enigma of forgetting” (page not specified), Wixted says forgetting is generally well characterized by a power law and describes experiments using word lists with retention intervals measured in minutes. Our copy does not establish that the classical results primarily used nonsense verbal material over minutes to months, or that the power law applies to visual memory. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Cites
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“Although primarily obtained with non-sense verbal material on a timescale of minutes to months, studies suggest the applicability to other memory domains, including visual memory 31,32 .”
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- Authors
- Wixted, J. T.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wixted, John T.
- ORCID
- Wixted, John T.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2022-03-15
- Volume
- 119
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- e2201332119-e2201332119
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC8944258
- OpenAlex
- W4220701221
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- forgetting, memory loss, memory consolidation
- MeSH terms
- Cues, Mental Recall
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