Abstract
Since Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork (1994) devised the retrieval-practice paradigm, retrieval-induced forgetting has been examined based on the categorical features of the stimuli, but not in terms of a common episodic context. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the study episode on retrieval-induced forgetting. To this aim, the authors designed a modified version of the retrieval-practice paradigm, in which the participants perform episode-cued retrieval practice during the learning phase. Experiments 1 and 2 examined whether retrieval-induced forgetting would occur in the modified procedure using category-exemplar pairs as stimuli. In Experiment 1, the interval between stimuli and episodic cues was set to 1500 ms, and in Experiment 2, it was set to 0 ms. Retrieval-induced forgetting was found only in Experiment 1, indicating that the occurrence of the effect depends on the degree of effort in maintaining a study episode where the stimuli involve categorical information. Experiment 3 examined the possibility that retrieval-induced forgetting occurs after episode-cued retrieval practice with mutually noncategorical words as stimuli. The authors did not find retrieval-induced forgetting, although a positive effect of retrieval practice was observed. These findings suggest that retrieval-induced forgetting can be observed in a condition that involves both category-based and episode-based competition.
