We have all had the experience of forgetting important information, likely viewing this as a failure of our memory system. Our brains are constantly forgetting information as we gain new knowledge. On average, our brains forget about 50% of new information within an hour of learning it. 90% of new information gets forgotten within a week (Woolliscroft, 2020). For a long time, this phenomenon has been viewed by psychologists as a glitch in the memory system, serving no discernable purpose. However, thanks to new research from the last 20 years, the importance of this process has been reconsidered. It is now deemed to be an active process, meaning that your brain is designed to intentionally forget unwanted memories encoded into the brain (Davis & Zhong, 2018).
Forgetting memories is an essential function of your brain. The American Psychological Association defines forgetting as “the failure to remember material previously learned.” When forgetting information, your brain discards irrelevant or unimportant information, making space to better store and prioritize more important details. By actively removing unnecessary clutter, your brain can have a more efficient memory system and focus on the information that matters. The unimportant information or insignificant details that would otherwise interfere with retrieving essential information are removed to benefit your memory system as a whole. Constantly reducing the accessibility of unimportant information lets your brain remain efficient and adaptable.
Your brain engages in both active and passive forgetting. Your brain can passively forget memories as connections and context clues decay over time, making retrieval increasingly difficult. Actively forgetting, however, in which your brain intentionally suppresses memories, is a much more common method. One such process, intrinsic forgetting, involves a biological signaling system that intentionally degrades molecular and cellular traces of cells.
Active forgetting can be broken down into an additional three methods: Interference-based forgetting involves competing information accelerating the decay of memory traces. Motivated forgetting occurs when cognitive mechanisms intentionally weaken an unpleasant memory that may be traumatic or painful. This defense mechanism benefits your emotional well-being by blocking out unwanted ideas, possibly as a response to trauma or psychological disorders (Costanzi et al., 2021). Lastly, retrieval-induced forgetting occurs when remembering some information causes other information to be forgotten. Essentially, when your brain remembers one thing, similar memories may become harder to access. This method helps to avoid confusion and uncertainty, making the recalled information more clear the next time it is needed (Davis & Zhong, 2018).
In everyday life, forgetting plays a key role in mental processes. Forgetting provides visible benefits that are commonly unknown. Studies have found that people exhibiting higher rates of forgetting also exhibit better decision-making, creativity, and adaptability.
Forgetting can facilitate increased creativity. One study performed by Benjamin C. Storm and Trisha N. Patel from the University of California researched the connection between forgetting and creative thinking. They found that forgetting reduces the effects of mental fixation. Mental fixation occurs when there’s an obsessive and persistent focus on a single thought idea. Your brain can alleviate the effects of this fixation, allowing it to break free from fixed ideas and expectations. This creates space for new connections and perspectives to emerge, enhancing creativity. By filtering out unnecessary or outdated details through forgetting, your brain can create a more generalized understanding of a situation. Thus, by preventing your brain from being overwhelmed with information, better decisions can be made. Similarly, by forgetting unimportant details you can better prioritize more relevant information. As a result, there is less interference from outdated details that could hinder decision-making in new environments. By reducing the prevalence of outdated information through forgetting, your brain can better adapt and be more flexible when responding to new ideas.
Forgetting also has the unexpected benefit of enhancing learning (Bjork, 2016). This may seem counterintuitive, as the goal of learning in many instances presents as memorization of information. Over time, information will start to fade since it may be deemed as unimportant by the brain. Then, when you try to recall that information later, your brain has to work harder to retrieve it. This strengthens the connections involved in retrieving this memory. The more you retrieve forgotten information, the stronger and more durable these connections become, making the memory easier to access in the future.
Forgetting may initially seem like a flaw in our memory systems, but it’s a vital process that supports cognitive efficiency. By actively and passively forgetting, the brain can prioritize important information, improve decision-making, enhance creativity, and allow for more flexible thinking. However, while forgetting is highly beneficial, there needs to be a balance between remembering and forgetting. When this balance is disrupted, such as in the case of mental disorders, the consequences can be deeply damaging to a person’s well-being. Both processes are essential for healthy mental functioning. Ultimately, the process of managing memory through forgetting shows the brain’s ability to ensure clear cognition. Just as our brains both actively forget unimportant information, and also work to retain and build on crucial memories. By appreciating this dynamic process, we can better understand the role forgetting plays in keeping our minds running effectively.
