Assessment of selective search as an explanation for intentional forgetting

Investigated an assessment of selective search as an explanation for intentional forgetting by measuring reaction time (RT) in paired-associate lists of varying length. Ss were 44 college students. On half of the trials, a postinput cue was provided which instructed S to forget either the 1st or 2nd half of the list, and a single-stimulus probe was presented from the remaining pairs. For 1 group of Ss, the response items within a list were unrelated nouns; for another group, the response items within each list were half from the same category, but the categories within a list were different. For both random and categorized lists, it was found that (a) RT increased with list length and (b) RT was significantly reduced by a forget cue, with some indication that this reduction was greater for categorized lists. It is concluded that the criteria for a selective-search interpretation for intentional forgetting were satisfied, and that, for the most recently presented items, a serial and self-terminating search may be involved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).