Retrieval-induced forgetting and clinical depression

Abstract

The act of retrieving a memory has been found to suppress the recall of related memories, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). RIF is thought to involve an inhibitory mechanism of some kind. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that clinical depression might be associated with an abnormality in the mechanism underlying RIF. The RIF procedure was carried out on 21 clinically depressed participants and 21 normal controls. The depressed group demonstrated significantly lower RIF scores than did the control group. However, there was no difference between the overall recall scores of the depressed and normal groups, indicating that the differences were confined to RIF and were not just a reflection of a general impairment of memory. The authors concluded that the RIF effect was deficient in clinically depressed individuals. Possible causal relationships between RIF and depression are discussed.