Optimal testing time for suppression of competitors during interference resolution

Interference between competing memory traces is a common cause of memory failure. Recent research has demonstrated a suppression mechanism that operates at retrieval to resolve interference. Using an adaptation of the suppression paradigm in Healey, Ngo, and Hasher [(2014). Below-baseline suppressio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Memory (Hove) 2017-11, Vol.25 (10), p.1396-1401
Main Authors: Ngo, K W Joan, Hasher, Lynn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Arousal
Circadian rhythm
Circadian rhythms
Competition
Female
Humans
Inhibition (Psychology)
Male
Memory
Mental Recall
Time Factors
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Interference between competing memory traces is a common cause of memory failure. Recent research has demonstrated a suppression mechanism that operates at retrieval to resolve interference. Using an adaptation of the suppression paradigm in Healey, Ngo, and Hasher [(2014). Below-baseline suppression of competitors during interference resolution by younger but not older adults. Psychological Science, 25(1), 145-151. doi: 10.1177/0956797613501169 ], we tested whether the ability to suppress competing memory traces varies with the synchrony between optimal arousal period and time of testing. We replicate the below-baseline suppression effect for young adults tested at optimal times of day, and present novel evidence that they do not show competitor suppression during non-optimal times of day. In fact, competitors are actually strengthened at non-optimal times. Our results suggest that the ability to resolve interference by suppression varies with circadian arousal.
ISSN:0965-8211
1464-0686
DOI:10.1080/09658211.2017.1309437