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All The News About Theories Affecting Forgetting

By Jason Lee

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Published: 08Jan2012
Word count: 983
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What is forgetting? Forgetting is the failure to remember stored information or experience. The following are the theories affecting forgetting:

1. Fading suggests that learning creates certain changes in the brain called memory traces, retrievable at some future time when the need for them arises. These traces do not remain forever in the brain and disappear with time.

2. Interference states that old and new learning interfere with one another and that the more similar the things learned, the more the interference.

a. Retroactive inhibition occurs when the subsequent learning interferes with earlier learning.

b. Proactive inhibition occurs when prior learning interferes with new learning. These two principles of interference have their implications for teaching. A teacher who is aware of these principles will be guided accordingly in his presentation of subject matter. The extent of the interference would depend upon how similar the tasks to be performed are and how different the required responses would be. Similar activities or concepts should not be given immediately, one following the other, to prevent interference.

3. Ziegarnik effect says that a person is likely to forget completed tasks more than uncompleted ones.

4. Gestaltist theory states that material poorly organized will fade faster than that which is clearly and well organized. It emphasizes the idea of learning by wholes.

5. Cybernetic theory states that the brain works like a computer. It processes incoming information before it is finally stored. This process is achieved by encoding and organization. During the encoding, the brain reduces or short cuts the amount of information stored for a particular item. When a person sees an object, he notes the details, but in so doing, he puts all these details in a chunk or a while. It is the chuck or whole that is stored in the memory.

Studies and experiments show that something can be done to improve retention. There are certain classroom practices that the teacher can do which can increase long term memory of students. The classroom teacher as well as the students can adopt certain procedures to achieve longer retention of stored materials.

Here are the suggestions:

1. Make subject matter meaningful. Meaningful materials are easy to remember. Materials are meaningful when they evoke associations; words and materials are familiar; and the students can relate information to an underlying principle or rule.

2. Organize materials and learning tasks properly.

3. Reduce the effect of interference. The effect of retroactive and proactive can be reduced.

4. Provide for over-learning. Over-learning refers to learning that continues after materials appear to be learned and remembered.

5. Provide for immediate feedback. The associations encourage immediate feedback because this can serve as reinforcement for better learning. Teachers can give diagnostic tests to pinpoint difficulties and student deficiencies. These tests can identify the areas needing improvement; hence, teaching becomes guided and effective.

6. Provide for active learning. Educators agree that real recitation or active learning helps students in retaining subject matter. Anything that is recited orally is remembered better than material learned passively.

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