Theories of cognition frequently assume the existence of inhibitory mechanisms that
deactivate mental representations. Justifying this assumption is difficult because cognitive …

When confronted with reminders to things that we would prefer not to think about, we often
attempt to put the unwanted memories out of awareness. Here, I argue that the ability to …

Interference provides an account of one of the most basic problems in the science of
memory: forgetting. Historically, theories of this process were shaped by models of …

The influence of classic interference theories on contemporary thinking about recall is
embodied in the principle of competitor interference, which suggests that forgetting is a …

It is argued herein that inhibition plays an important role in higher-order as well as lower-
order cognitive processes. One such form of inhibition for which there is accumulating …

The standard textbook account of interference and forgetting is based on the assumption
that retrieval of a memory trace is affected by competition by other memory traces. In recent …

Abstract assessing whether impaired performance reflects inhibitory processes requires
both a familiarity with inhibitory and noninhibitory mechanisms that might produce it, and an …

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the causes of memory interference and the
extent of situations in which these mechanisms operate. First, the chapter discusses some …

A new model for interference and forgetting is presented. The model is based on the
Raaijmakers and Shiffrin search of associative memory (SAM) theory for retrieval from long …

Interference from competing material at retrieval is a major cause of memory failure. We
tested the hypothesis that such interference can be overcome by suppressing competing …