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Article
Directed forgetting: Differential effects on typical and distinctive faces
Journal of General Psychology (2011)
  • Mitchell M. Metzger, Ashland University
Abstract
Directed forgetting (DF) occurs when stimuli presented during the study phase are followed by 'forget' and 'remember' cues. On a subsequent memory test, poor memory is observed for stimuli followed by the forget cues, compared to stimuli followed by the remember cues. Although DF is most commonly observed with verbal tasks, the present study extended intentional forgetting research for nonverbal stimuli and examined whether faces were susceptible to DF. Results confirmed that the presentation of a forget cue significantly reduced recognition for faces, as compared to faces followed by a remember cue. Additionally, a well-established finding in face recognition is that distinctive faces are better remembered than typical faces, and Experiment 2 assessed whether face appearance influenced the degree of DF. Results indicate that the DF effect observed in Experiment 1 was replicated in Experiment 2 and that the effect was more pronounced for those faces that were typical in appearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR].
Keywords
  • faces
Disciplines
Publication Date
2011
Citation Information
Mitchell M. Metzger. "Directed forgetting: Differential effects on typical and distinctive faces" Journal of General Psychology Vol. 132 Iss. 2 (2011)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mitchell_metzger/5/