Effects of coping style and anxious mood on retrieval-induced forgetting

Abstract

Retrieval-induced forgetting is the phenomenon in which retrieval of items from memory leads to the forgetting of related items. This mechanism is a normal process of memory but has been demonstrated to be impaired in anxiety. The current study aimed to explore factors that may mediate the retrieval-induced forgetting impairments associated with anxiety by inducing an anxious mood. Impairments in retrieval-induced forgetting may cause adverse cognitive effects particularly in tasks requiring memory such as problem-solving. Therefore, it is imperative to study methods of mediating retrieval-induced forgetting impairments in the context of anxiety. Adaptive and maladaptive coping styles are potential mediating factors that were assessed in the current study. The research question is, do adaptive coping styles demonstrate an increased ability to mediate the retrieval-induced forgetting deficits associated with anxiety better than maladaptive coping styles. This question was explored by implementing a variation of the retrieval practice paradigm. Results indicated that participants who use maladaptive coping styles failed to demonstrate retrieval-induced forgetting effects. In contrast, normal retrieval-induced forgetting effects were found for participants who illustrated adaptive coping styles.