Stefanie J. Sharman, Seema L. Clifasefi., Amanda J. Barnier, & Chris J.
Mitchell: Retrieval-induced forgetting and context

Abstract

To investigate the effect of context in retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), we conducted two experiments. In Experiment 1, half our participants were given a mental context change instruction (“imagine walking through your parent's house”) before the study phase. Immediately before the retrieval phase, half had the original study context reinstated (“imagine how you felt when you first came into this room”). Although this context manipulation affected RIF in the predicted direction, this effect was very small. In Experiment 2, we included a physical context change manipulation to enhance the effects of context change. We discuss the implications of our results for the inhibition explanation of RIF.