Retrieval-induced forgetting of emotional traits and its effect on implicit attitudes

Abstract: Memory is fundamental for multitudinous cognitive functions. The function of current interest is retrieval and the effect it has on the accessibility of stored information. Besides facilitating recall of previously retrieved items, retrieval may also inhibit information that is associated to the same cue as the retrieved items. This study examines the effect of retrieval practice on person memory for neutral and emotional traits. The study also investigates if forgetting a person's traits changes the implicit attitude towards that person. The results showed retrieval-induced forgetting for negative traits but not for neutral and positive traits. When the recall performance was assessed with focus on emotional accuracy rather than on the recall of specific words, the forgetting effect for negative traits diminished, suggesting that the general concepts of good and bad were not as susceptible to retrieval inhibition as the specific traits. Further, retrieval-induced forgetting of negative traits did not lead to changes in implicit attitudes, thus, suggesting that implicit attitudes are not dependent of the explicit accessibility of information that they were originally based on.