The Psychology and Neuroscience of Forgetting
Abstract
Traditional theories of forgetting are wedded to the notion that cue-overload interference procedures (often involving the A-B, A-C list-learning paradigm) capture the most important elements of forgetting in everyday life. However, findings from a century of work in psychology, psychopharmacology, and neuroscience converge on the notion that such procedures may pertain mainly to forgetting in the laboratory and that everyday forgetting is attributable to an altogether different form of interference. According to this idea, recently formed memories that have not yet had a chance to consolidate are vulnerable to the interfering force of mental activity and memory formation (even if the interfering activity is not similar to the previously learned material). This account helps to explain why sleep, alcohol, and benzodiazepines all improve memory for a recently learned list, and it is consistent with recent work on the variables that affect the induction and maintenance of long-term potentiation in the hippocampus.
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Natural forgetting is an adaptive feature that prevents cognitive overload, maintains information relevance, and enables efficient generalization by removing specific details while preserving important patterns.
“This natural forgetting is not a weakness but an adaptive feature that prevents cognitive overload, maintains information relevance, and enables efficient generalization by removing specific details while preserving important patterns [19].”
From FadeMem: Biologically-Inspired Forgetting for Efficient Agent Memory (2026) · cites this paper as [19]
Testing forestalls forgetting, unlike many other independent variables (e.g., meaningfulness) that do not influence forgetting rate.
“It has been argued that testing forestalls forgetting, unlike many other independent variables (e.g., meaningfulness) that do not influence forgetting rate (Underwood 1972, Wixted 2004).”
From Practicing Retrieval Facilitates Learning (2021) · cites this paper as Wixted 2004
The consolidation hypothesis is now widely accepted based on numerous studies showing that psychological, pharmacological, and electrophysiological manipulations can effectively impair or enhance memory when administered after encoding.
“The consolidation hypothesis is now widely accepted based on numerous studies showing that psychological, pharmacological, and electrophysiological manipulations, such as interference learning, the administration of norepinephrine and protein synthesis inhibitors or electroconvulsive shocks, can effectively impair or enhance memory, when administered after encoding (e.g., Refs. 803, 1332).”
From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [1332]
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“This natural forgetting is not a weakness but an adaptive feature that prevents cognitive overload, maintains information relevance, and enables efficient generalization by removing specific details while preserving important patterns [19].”
- Authors
- Wixted, J. T.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wixted, John T.
- ORCID
- Wixted, John T.
- Venue
- Annual Review of Psychology
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2004-02-01
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 235-269
- ISSN
- 0066-4308 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-2085
- OpenAlex
- W2169200398
- Cited by
- 999
- References
- 98
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 72 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 55 · 2019: 53 · 2018: 53 · 2017: 54 · 2016: 53 · 2015: 54 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 47 · 2012: 50
- FWCI
- 2.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Keywords
- forgetting, interference theory, list learning, memory consolidation, recent memory, sleep and memory, benzodiazepines, long-term potentiation, hippocampus
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Learning, Memory Disorders, Psychological Theory, Time Factors
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