In the early days of psychology, the concept of inhibition was prevalent and influential (e.g., Breese, 1899; Pillsbury, 1908; Wundt, 1902). These psychologists applied the concept of inhibition (and interference) to early theories of learning and forgetting. Starting in 1894, German scientists Muller and Shumann conducted empirical studies that demonstrated how learning a second list of items interfered with memory of the first list. Based on these experiments, Muller argued that the process of attention was based on facilitation. Arguing for a different explanation, Wundt (1902) claimed that selective attention was accomplished by the active inhibition of unattended information, and that to attend to one of several simultaneous stimuli, the others had to be inhibited. American Psychologist Walter Pillsbury combined Muller and Wundt's arguments, claiming that attention both facilitates information that is wanted and inhibits information that is unwanted.
Since the mid-1980s, there has been a renewed interest in understanding the role of inhibition in cognition. Research on a wide variety of psychological processes, including attention, perception, learning and memory, psycholinguistics, cognitive development, aging, learning disabilities, and neuropsychology, suggests that resistance to interference (which implies capacity for inhibition) is an important part of cognition.
The "part-set cuing effect" was initially discovered by Slamecka (1968), who found that providing a portion of to-be-remembered items as test cues
often impairs retrieval of the remaining un-cued items compared with performance in a no-cue (free-recall) control condition. Such an effect is intriguing because
normally cues are expected to aid recall (e.g., Tulving & Pearlstone,
1966). A prominent figure in retrieval-based inhibition research, Henry L. Roediger III was another one of the first psychologists to propose the idea that retrieving an item reduces the subsequent accessibility of other stored items. Becoming aware of the part-set cueing effect reduces the effect, such that relearning part of a set of previously learned associations can improve recall of the non-relearned associations.
Using inhibition to explain memory processes began with the work of Hasher and Zacks (1988), which focused on the cognitive costs associated with aging and bridging the attention-memory gap. Hasher and Zacks found that older adults show impairments on tasks that require inhibiting irrelevant information in working memory, and these impairments may lead to problems in a variety of contexts.
Anderson and Spellman's model of retrieval-induced forgetting suggests that when items compete during retrieval, an inhibitory process will serve to suppress those competitors. For instance, retrieval of one meaning for a word (e.g. the verb meaning of the word sock) will tend to inhibit the dominant meaning of that word (e.g. the noun meaning of sock). In 1995, Anderson and Spellman conducted a three-phase study using their retrieval-induced forgetting model to demonstrate unlearning as inhibition.
Anderson and Spellman observed that items that shared a semantic relationship with practiced information was less recallable. Using the example from above, recall of items related to practiced information, including tomato and strawberry was lower than recall for cracker, even though strawberry is part of a different pair. This finding suggests that associative competition by explicit category cue is not the only factor in retrieval difficulty. They theorized that the brain suppresses, or inhibits, non-practiced attributes. This explains why an item that is very similar to tomato, but not from the same pair, also exhibits decreased recall rate.
Though Anderson & Green's (2001) results have been replicated several times, a group of prominent psychology researchers using the same methodology as the original study were unable to replicate even the basic result (Bulevich, Roediger, Balota, & Butler, 2006). They determined that suppression is not a robust experimental phenomenon in the think/no-think paradigm and suggested that Anderson and Green's findings could be explained by retroactive interference, or simply thinking about X when told to "not think" about Y.
Although the rate of recall of previously forgotten traumatic events was shown by Elliot and Briere (1996) to be unaffected by whether or not the victim had a history of being in psychotherapy, individuals who report repressed memories are more susceptible to producing false memories than individuals who could always recall the memory. Williams found that among women with confirmed histories of sexual abuse, approximately 38% did not recall the abuse 17 years later, especially when it was perpetrated by someone familiar to them. Hopper cites several studies which indicate that some abuse victims will have intervals of complete amnesia for their abuse. Peer reviewed and clinical studies have documented the existence of recovered memory; one website lists 43 legal cases where an individual whose claim to have recovered a repressed memory has been accepted by a court. Traumatic amnesia, which allegedly involves the forgetting of specific traumatic events for long periods of time, is highly controversial, as is repression, the psychodynamic explanation of traumatic amnesia. Because these concepts lack good empirical support, psychological scientists are skeptical about the validity of "recovered memories", and argue that some therapists, through suggestive techniques, have (un)knowingly encouraged false memories of victimization.
The idea that subjects can actively inhibit a memory has many critics. MacLeod (2003) challenged the idea of inhibition in cognitive control, arguing that inhibition can be attributed to conflict resolution, which is the error-prone act of choosing between two similar values that do not necessarily have the same pair. Re-examine the pairs from above: Food-Cracker, Food-Strawberry, Red-Tomato, and Red-Blood. Memory inhibition theories suggest that recall of strawberry decreases when recall of tomato decreases because tomato's attributes are inhibited when red-blood is learned. MacLeod argues that inhibition does not take place, but instead is the result of confusion between similar word-pairs like food-tomato and red-strawberry that can lead to errors. This is different from tomato's attributes being inhibited. "In most cases where inhibitory mechanisms have been offered to explain cognitive performance", explains MacLeod, "non-inhibitory mechanisms can accomplish the same goal" (p. 203).
MacLeod, C. M. (2007). "Chapter 1: The Concept of Inhibition in Cognition". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
Neumann, E; Cherau, JF; Hood, KL; Steinnagel, SL (1993). "Does inhibition spread in a manner analogous to spreading activation?". Memory. 1 (2): 81–105. doi:10.1080/09658219308258226. PMID 7584264. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Wade, C., Tavris, C. (2011). Psychology (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-205-71146-8 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier)
Mathews, P. M. (2011). "Chapter 5: The Mnemonic Brain: Neuroimaging, Neuropharmacology, and Disorders of Memory". In Nalbantian, S.; Mathews, P. M.; McClelland, J. L. (eds.). The Memory Processes: Neuroscientific and Humanistic Perspectives. MIT Press. pp. 99–127. ISBN 978-0-262-01457-1. 978-0-262-01457-1
MacLeod, C. M. (2007). "Chapter 1: The Concept of Inhibition in Cognition". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
Dempster, F. N. (1995). "Chapter 1: An Historical Perspective". In Dempster, F.N.; Brainerd, C. J. (eds.). Interference and Inhibition in Cognition. Academic Press, Inc. pp. 3–26. ISBN 978-0-12-208930-5. 978-0-12-208930-5
Dempster, F. N. (1995). "Chapter 1: An Historical Perspective". In Dempster, F.N.; Brainerd, C. J. (eds.). Interference and Inhibition in Cognition. Academic Press, Inc. pp. 3–26. ISBN 978-0-12-208930-5. 978-0-12-208930-5
Dagenbach, D.; Carr, T.H., eds. (1994). Inhibitory Processes in Attention, Memory, and Language. Academic Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-12-200410-0. 978-0-12-200410-0
Dagenbach, D.; Carr, T.H., eds. (1994). Inhibitory Processes in Attention, Memory, and Language. Academic Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-12-200410-0. 978-0-12-200410-0
MacLeod, C. M. (2007). "Chapter 1: The Concept of Inhibition in Cognition". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
Dagenbach, D.; Carr, T.H., eds. (1994). Inhibitory Processes in Attention, Memory, and Language. Academic Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-12-200410-0. 978-0-12-200410-0
Carr, T. H. (2007). "Chapter 15: Is It Time to Inhibit Inhibition? Lessons From a Decade of Inhibitory Processes in Cognition". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
Bower, G. H. (2000). "Chapter 1: A Brief History of Memory Research". In Tulving, E.; Craik, F.I.M. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Memory. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-518200-2. 978-0-19-518200-2
MacLeod, C. M. (2007). "Chapter 1: The Concept of Inhibition in Cognition". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
Dempster, F. N. (1995). "Chapter 1: An Historical Perspective". In Dempster, F.N.; Brainerd, C. J. (eds.). Interference and Inhibition in Cognition. Academic Press, Inc. pp. 3–26. ISBN 978-0-12-208930-5. 978-0-12-208930-5
Bower, G. H. (2000). "Chapter 1: A Brief History of Memory Research". In Tulving, E.; Craik, F.I.M. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Memory. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-518200-2. 978-0-19-518200-2
Dempster, F. N. (1995). "Chapter 1: An Historical Perspective". In Dempster, F.N.; Brainerd, C. J. (eds.). Interference and Inhibition in Cognition. Academic Press, Inc. pp. 3–26. ISBN 978-0-12-208930-5. 978-0-12-208930-5
Dagenbach, D.; Carr, T.H., eds. (1994). Inhibitory Processes in Attention, Memory, and Language. Academic Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-12-200410-0. 978-0-12-200410-0
Dempster, F. N. (1995). "Chapter 1: An Historical Perspective". In Dempster, F.N.; Brainerd, C. J. (eds.). Interference and Inhibition in Cognition. Academic Press, Inc. pp. 3–26. ISBN 978-0-12-208930-5. 978-0-12-208930-5
Davidson, T; Kanoski, S; Walls, E; Jarrard, L,["Memory Inhibition and Energy Regulation"]"ElSevier"2005
Slamecka NJ (1968). "An examination of trace storage in free recall". J Exp Psychol. 76 (4): 504–13. doi:10.1037/h0025695. PMID 5650563. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Marsh, E. J.; Dolan, P. O.; Balota, D. A.; Roediger, H. L. (2004). "Part-set cuing effects in younger and older adults". Psychology and Aging. 19 (1): 134–144. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.19.1.134. PMID 15065937. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Nairne, J. S. (2007). Roddy Roediger's Memory. In J. S. Nairne (Ed.), The foundations of remembering: Essays in honor of Henry L. Roediger, III. New York: Psychology Press http://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~nairne/pdfs/44.pdf Archived 2012-11-15 at the Wayback Machine http://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~nairne/pdfs/44.pdf
Stone JV, Hunkin NM, Hornby A (2001). "Predicting spontaneous recovery of memory". Nature. 414 (6860): 167–8. doi:10.1038/35102676. PMID 11700545. S2CID 1896737. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
MacLeod, C. M. (2007). "Chapter 1: The Concept of Inhibition in Cognition". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
Zacks, R.T.; Hasher, L.; Li, K.Z.H. (2008). The Handbook of Aging and Cognition, 3rd edn. East Sussex: Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-8058-5990-4. (pages 293-258) 978-0-8058-5990-4
Gorgein, D. S.; Brown, V. R.. (2007). "Chapter 6: Saying No to Inhibition: The Encoding and Use of Words". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
Anderson MC, Spellman BA (1995). "On the Status of Inhibitory Mechanism in Cognition: Memory Retrieval as a Model Case". Psychological Review. 102 (1): 68–100. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.102.1.68. PMID 7878163. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
MacLeod, C. M. (2007). "Chapter 1: The Concept of Inhibition in Cognition". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
Anderson MC, Green C (2001). "Suppressing unwanted memories by executive control". Nature. 410 (6826): 366–9. Bibcode:2001Natur.410..366A. doi:10.1038/35066572. PMID 11268212. S2CID 4403569. /wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)
Bulevich, J. B.; Roediger, H.; Balota, D. A.; Butler, A. C. (2006). "Failures to find suppression of episodic memories in the think/no-think paradigm". Memory & Cognition. 34 (8): 1569–1577. doi:10.3758/BF03195920. PMID 17489284. https://doi.org/10.3758%2FBF03195920
Bulevich, J. B.; Roediger, H.; Balota, D. A.; Butler, A. C. (2006). "Failures to find suppression of episodic memories in the think/no-think paradigm". Memory & Cognition. 34 (8): 1569–1577. doi:10.3758/BF03195920. PMID 17489284. https://doi.org/10.3758%2FBF03195920
Bulevich, J. B.; Roediger, H.; Balota, D. A.; Butler, A. C. (2006). "Failures to find suppression of episodic memories in the think/no-think paradigm". Memory & Cognition. 34 (8): 1569–1577. doi:10.3758/BF03195920. PMID 17489284. https://doi.org/10.3758%2FBF03195920
Wade, C., Tavris, C. (2011). Psychology (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-205-71146-8 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier)
Widom, Cathy Spatz; Morris, Suzanne (March 1997). "Accuracy of Adult Recollections of Childhood Victimization: Part 2. Childhood Sexual Abuse". Psychological Assessment. 9 (1). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association: 34–46. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.9.1.34. ISSN 1040-3590. EJ545434. Retrieved 2007-12-18. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ545434&searchtype=keyword&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&objectId=0900019b801126a6&accno=EJ545434&_nfls=false
Sheflin, Alan W; Brown, Daniel (1996). "Repressed Memory or Dissociative Amnesia: What the Science Says". Journal of Psychiatry & Law. 24 (Summer): 143–88. doi:10.1177/009318539602400203. ISSN 0093-1853. S2CID 149648250. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Widom, Cathy Spatz; Shepard, Robin L. (December 1996). "Accuracy of adult recollections of childhood victimization : Part 1. Childhood physical abuse". Psychological Assessment. 8 (4). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association: 412–21. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.8.4.412. ISSN 1040-3590. EJ542113. Retrieved 2007-12-18. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ542113&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ542113
van der Kolk, M.D., Bessel (March 1, 1997). "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Memory". Psychiatric Times. 14 (3). /wiki/Bessel_van_der_Kolk
Sharon C. Wilsnack; Stephen A. Wonderlich; Arlinda F. Kristjanson; Nancy Vogeltanz-Holm; Richard W. Wilsnack (2002). "Self-reports of forgetting and remembering childhood sexual abuse in a nationally representative sample of US women". Child Abuse & Neglect. 26 (2, February 2002, Pages 139–147): 139–47. doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(01)00313-1. PMID 11933986. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
McNally, R. J.; Clancy, S. A.; Schacter, D. L. (2001). "Directed forgetting of trauma cues in adults reporting repressed or recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse". Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 110 (1): 151–156. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.110.1.151. PMID 11261390. S2CID 11045962. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
McNally, R. J.; Metzger, L. J.; Lasko, N. B.; Clancy, S. A.; Pitman, R. K. (1998). "Directed forgetting of trauma cues in adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse with and without posttraumatic stress disorder". Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 107 (4): 596–601. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.107.4.596. PMID 9830247. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
van der Kolk, M.D., Bessel (March 1, 1997). "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Memory". Psychiatric Times. 14 (3). /wiki/Bessel_van_der_Kolk
McNally, R. J.; Metzger, L. J.; Lasko, N. B.; Clancy, S. A.; Pitman, R. K. (1998). "Directed forgetting of trauma cues in adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse with and without posttraumatic stress disorder". Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 107 (4): 596–601. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.107.4.596. PMID 9830247. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Williams LM (December 1994). "Recall of childhood trauma: a prospective study of women's memories of child sexual abuse". J Consult Clin Psychol. 62 (6): 1167–76. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.62.6.1167. PMID 7860814. http://content.apa.org/journals/ccp/62/6/1167
Hopper, Jim. "Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse Scientific Research & Scholarly Resources". Archived from the original on 2016-06-18. Retrieved 2007-12-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20160618150528/http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/
"Recovered Memory Project". Taubman Center for Public Policy & American Institutions at Brown University. Retrieved 2007-12-15. http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Recovmem
Wade, C., Tavris, C. (2011). Psychology (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-205-71146-8 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier)
Wade, C., Tavris, C. (2011). Psychology (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-205-71146-8 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier)
Gorgein, D. S.; Brown, V. R.. (2007). "Chapter 6: Saying No to Inhibition: The Encoding and Use of Words". In Gorfein, D.S.; MacLeod, C. M. (eds.). Inhibition in Cognition. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–23. ISBN 978-1-59147-930-7. 978-1-59147-930-7
MacLeod, C. M., Dodd, M. D., Sheard, E. D., Wilson, D. E., & Bibi, U. (2003). "In opposition to inhibition". In B. H. Ross (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory, vol. 43, 163–214. New York, NY US: Elsevier Science. http://www-psychology.concordia.ca/fac/deAlmeida/COGSCI/Macleod%202003%20inhibition%20chapter.pdf
MacLeod, C. M., Dodd, M. D., Sheard, E. D., Wilson, D. E., & Bibi, U. (2003). "In opposition to inhibition". In B. H. Ross (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory, vol. 43, 163–214. New York, NY US: Elsevier Science. http://www-psychology.concordia.ca/fac/deAlmeida/COGSCI/Macleod%202003%20inhibition%20chapter.pdf
MacLeod, C. M., Dodd, M. D., Sheard, E. D., Wilson, D. E., & Bibi, U. (2003). "In opposition to inhibition". In B. H. Ross (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory, vol. 43, 163–214. New York, NY US: Elsevier Science. http://www-psychology.concordia.ca/fac/deAlmeida/COGSCI/Macleod%202003%20inhibition%20chapter.pdf