Remembering and Forgetting
Introduction
The classroom experiences show that learners forget the information they acquire or learn.
The teacher is a witness that the majority of learners in most of the tests taken hardly ever get full
marks. The explanation for this phenomenon is that between the time material is learned or even
revised and the time the test is taken some information is lost through forgetting.
In this lesson I have discussed why forgetting occurs as well as how memory can be improved. I have
drawn heavily from the behaviorism and information processing theory.
Why students forget the content they learn
Educational experience show the some things are remembered well, others are „there‟ but sometimes
difficult to find. While still others things are completely forgotten.
A good teacher should know why this happens so that he can try and create conditions that promote
memory all the time. Different theories give different explanations as to what causes forgetting. I
have discussed the behavioristic theory and the cognitive theory.
The Behavioristic theory
The behaviorists developed the following explanations:
The disuse model and the interference model.
The Disuse Theory
This theory submits that people forget the S-R connections or associations made previously because
they grow rusty or fade away through lack of use. This concept can be explained through the
Pavlovian or Skinnerian experiments.
,In Pavlov,s classical conditioning it refers to the withdrawal of reinforcement. If the food, which
served as the reinforcer to keep the association between the bell and the food alive, was removed,
extinction occurred. If the dog was subjected to this state for long i.e. the bell ringing without the
accompaniment of the food then the stimulus-response connections were lost.
In skinners operant conditioning if the rat continued to press the bar without the accompaniment of
food as a reinforcer this bar pressing behaviour disappeared because the connections or associations
between it and food was lost. This information can be applied in the classroom situation for the
purpose of helping the teacher to understand the dynamics involved in forgetting and remembering.
Just like Pavlov‟s dogs and skinners rats would forget the S-R associations they had learned, pupils
too forget what they learn under similar principles. To promote remembering the teacher needs to
ensure that learned material is rehearsed under conditions or reinforcement.
Rehearsal
Learners who do not rehearse content often lose the S-R connection they had learned.
Rehearsing refers to the constant repetition and review of the content. For rehearsal to benefit
learners, the teacher should give them time and place to do their rehearsal (study time).The teacher
should also ensure that the learners rehearse content, which is meaningful to them, because there is
tendency to forget content if it is meaningless. There is the need to show learners how the content
they are learning is related to what was learned earlier. These activities help to stamp in the S-R
connections already learned keeping them alive and hence minimizing forgetting.
Reinforcement
Remembering is best promoted if learning is reinforced. Withdrawal of reinforcement causes
extinction, which is the disappearance of the learned response. If a learner displays the desirable
behaviour without being reinforced, forgetting occurs. The teacher should never lose sight of the fact
that reinforcement strengthens behaviour and makes it more probable. Making it mare probable
means that behaviour is given the chance to occur again.
Interference Model
This is another behaviorist explanation of forgetting. According to this model learners forget content
that they learn because other learning‟s interfere For example learners will forget old content because
,new content interferes with its memory. When old content interferes with the memory of new content,
we call this proactive inhibition. If new content with the memory of new content, we call this
proactive inhibition. If new content interferes with the memory of old content we refer to this as
retroactive inhibition.
Proactive Inhibition
Proactive inhibition is the forgetting that occurs when old information makes it difficult to remember
new information. For example a teacher gives learners a list of words and asks them to study it. Call it
list A. The teacher does not test for the memory of this list at this time. He gives the learners another
list of words (List B) not the first (List A).
What normally happens is that as the learners try to recall words on the second lis.t they experience
some mix up. They remember some words and they forget others. At the same time some of the
words from „list A‟ are recalled. The words from „list A‟ are said to interfere with the recall of list B.
this interfere is called proactive inhibition.
, Retroactive inhibition
Retroactive inhibition occurs when new learning‟s make it difficult to remember old learning‟s. For
example, this occurs if a teacher gives learners lists of words to learn.
First list A and then tests them on the recall of list A. as the learners try list B will be recalled because
the memory of B interferes with the memory of A. this interference is retroactive because later
memory acts backwards to interfere with earlier memory.
Application
The teacher should take note that both retroactive and proactive interference are greater when the
items in memory are similar.
Make new learning‟s clear by bringing out the similarities and differences between the old
and new information.
A learning task must be practiced until it is mastered and even over learned. The principle
is that partially learned tasks interfere more with other partially learned tasks.
Over learning means going beyond the mastery of a task and ensuring that the content is at
the “finger tips” this means that content can be recalled with ease.
Cognitive Explanation
According to the cognitive theory. The key to memory is the way in which the material is coded and
organized as it is stored in the long-term memory bank. Something important happens at every stage
of information processing to either promote memory or forgetting.
At the short-term sensory storage the key to memory at this level is attention. For information to be
retained in memory it should be focused on and rehearsed briefly so as to be registered for further
processing. Any information that is not attended to is lost or forgotten.
The Short term Memory/working memory.
The most important process at this level is rehearsal. Rehearsal takes two forms depending on the
reasons why we want to retain the information in memory.
Maintenance rehearsal
Introduction
The classroom experiences show that learners forget the information they acquire or learn.
The teacher is a witness that the majority of learners in most of the tests taken hardly ever get full
marks. The explanation for this phenomenon is that between the time material is learned or even
revised and the time the test is taken some information is lost through forgetting.
In this lesson I have discussed why forgetting occurs as well as how memory can be improved. I have
drawn heavily from the behaviorism and information processing theory.
Why students forget the content they learn
Educational experience show the some things are remembered well, others are „there‟ but sometimes
difficult to find. While still others things are completely forgotten.
A good teacher should know why this happens so that he can try and create conditions that promote
memory all the time. Different theories give different explanations as to what causes forgetting. I
have discussed the behavioristic theory and the cognitive theory.
The Behavioristic theory
The behaviorists developed the following explanations:
The disuse model and the interference model.
The Disuse Theory
This theory submits that people forget the S-R connections or associations made previously because
they grow rusty or fade away through lack of use. This concept can be explained through the
Pavlovian or Skinnerian experiments.
,In Pavlov,s classical conditioning it refers to the withdrawal of reinforcement. If the food, which
served as the reinforcer to keep the association between the bell and the food alive, was removed,
extinction occurred. If the dog was subjected to this state for long i.e. the bell ringing without the
accompaniment of the food then the stimulus-response connections were lost.
In skinners operant conditioning if the rat continued to press the bar without the accompaniment of
food as a reinforcer this bar pressing behaviour disappeared because the connections or associations
between it and food was lost. This information can be applied in the classroom situation for the
purpose of helping the teacher to understand the dynamics involved in forgetting and remembering.
Just like Pavlov‟s dogs and skinners rats would forget the S-R associations they had learned, pupils
too forget what they learn under similar principles. To promote remembering the teacher needs to
ensure that learned material is rehearsed under conditions or reinforcement.
Rehearsal
Learners who do not rehearse content often lose the S-R connection they had learned.
Rehearsing refers to the constant repetition and review of the content. For rehearsal to benefit
learners, the teacher should give them time and place to do their rehearsal (study time).The teacher
should also ensure that the learners rehearse content, which is meaningful to them, because there is
tendency to forget content if it is meaningless. There is the need to show learners how the content
they are learning is related to what was learned earlier. These activities help to stamp in the S-R
connections already learned keeping them alive and hence minimizing forgetting.
Reinforcement
Remembering is best promoted if learning is reinforced. Withdrawal of reinforcement causes
extinction, which is the disappearance of the learned response. If a learner displays the desirable
behaviour without being reinforced, forgetting occurs. The teacher should never lose sight of the fact
that reinforcement strengthens behaviour and makes it more probable. Making it mare probable
means that behaviour is given the chance to occur again.
Interference Model
This is another behaviorist explanation of forgetting. According to this model learners forget content
that they learn because other learning‟s interfere For example learners will forget old content because
,new content interferes with its memory. When old content interferes with the memory of new content,
we call this proactive inhibition. If new content with the memory of new content, we call this
proactive inhibition. If new content interferes with the memory of old content we refer to this as
retroactive inhibition.
Proactive Inhibition
Proactive inhibition is the forgetting that occurs when old information makes it difficult to remember
new information. For example a teacher gives learners a list of words and asks them to study it. Call it
list A. The teacher does not test for the memory of this list at this time. He gives the learners another
list of words (List B) not the first (List A).
What normally happens is that as the learners try to recall words on the second lis.t they experience
some mix up. They remember some words and they forget others. At the same time some of the
words from „list A‟ are recalled. The words from „list A‟ are said to interfere with the recall of list B.
this interfere is called proactive inhibition.
, Retroactive inhibition
Retroactive inhibition occurs when new learning‟s make it difficult to remember old learning‟s. For
example, this occurs if a teacher gives learners lists of words to learn.
First list A and then tests them on the recall of list A. as the learners try list B will be recalled because
the memory of B interferes with the memory of A. this interference is retroactive because later
memory acts backwards to interfere with earlier memory.
Application
The teacher should take note that both retroactive and proactive interference are greater when the
items in memory are similar.
Make new learning‟s clear by bringing out the similarities and differences between the old
and new information.
A learning task must be practiced until it is mastered and even over learned. The principle
is that partially learned tasks interfere more with other partially learned tasks.
Over learning means going beyond the mastery of a task and ensuring that the content is at
the “finger tips” this means that content can be recalled with ease.
Cognitive Explanation
According to the cognitive theory. The key to memory is the way in which the material is coded and
organized as it is stored in the long-term memory bank. Something important happens at every stage
of information processing to either promote memory or forgetting.
At the short-term sensory storage the key to memory at this level is attention. For information to be
retained in memory it should be focused on and rehearsed briefly so as to be registered for further
processing. Any information that is not attended to is lost or forgotten.
The Short term Memory/working memory.
The most important process at this level is rehearsal. Rehearsal takes two forms depending on the
reasons why we want to retain the information in memory.
Maintenance rehearsal
