Mastery-approach goals eliminate retrieval-induced forgetting: the role of achievement goals in memory inhibition

Ikeda, K., Castel, A., D. and Murayama, K. (2015) Mastery-approach goals eliminate retrieval-induced forgetting: the role of achievement goals in memory inhibition. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41 (5). pp. 687-695. ISSN 0146-1672 doi: 10.1177/0146167215575730

Abstract/Summary

The present study examined how achievement goals affect retrieval-induced forgetting. Researchers have suggested that mastery-approach goals (i.e., developing one’s own competence) promote a relational encoding, whereas performance-approach goals (i.e., demonstrating one’s ability in comparison to others) promote item-specific encoding. These different encoding processes may affect the degree to which participants integrate the exemplars within a category and, as a result, we expected that retrieval-induced forgetting may be reduced or eliminated under mastery-approach goals. Three experiments were conducted using a retrieval-practice paradigm with different stimuli, where participants’ achievement goals were manipulated through brief written instructions. A meta-analysis that synthesized the results of the three experiments showed that retrieval-induced forgetting was not statistically significant in the mastery-approach goal condition, whereas it was statistically significant in the performance-approach goal condition. These results suggest that mastery-approach goals eliminate retrieval-induced forgetting, but performance-approach goals do not, demonstrating that motivation factors can influence inhibition and forgetting.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/39331
Identification Number/DOI	10.1177/0146167215575730
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Language and Cognition Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Social
Uncontrolled Keywords	motivation, achievement goals, retrieval-induced forgetting, integration effect
Publisher	SAGE Publications
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