Comparative analysis of cognitive inhibition models: Part 1. M.A.Gernsbacher's Structure Building Framework and M.Anderson's mod-el of Retrieval-induced forgetting
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54359/ps.v19i108.2206Abstract
Background. In various domains of cognitive psychology, several theoretical approaches have proposed the existence of specific mechanisms accounting for cognitive inhibition effects that arise when implicit competition between mental representations is resolved. However, despite substantial empirical support for each of these approaches, the very existence of cognitive inhibition mechanisms remains a matter of debate. The aim of this two-part study is to compare the theoretical assumptions and empirical findings associated with these approaches in order to address two questions: whether theories of cognitive inhibition retain their heuristic potential in explaining observed effects, and whether these theories can be integrated into a broader framework. Four approaches were selected for analysis. In the present article (Part 1), two of them are examined: M. A. Gernsbacher’s Structure Building Framework and M. C. Anderson and colleagues’ theory of retrieval-induced forgetting. Results. The Structure Building Theory was introduced to describe processes involved in language comprehension, particularly aimed at explaining mechanisms for ambiguity resolution. Within this approach, the selection of a specific meaning of ambiguous information is assumed to require the active suppression of rejected alternatives. The theory of retrieval-induced forgetting was developed to explain forgetting as a consequence of overcoming interference during memory retrieval. According to this approach, the selective retrieval of one of several competing representations from memory leads to the active suppression of the non-selected alternative representation. Conclusions. The theories are compared according to a common set of criteria: the main problem addressed by the theory, its empirical basis, its key assumptions, the empirical predictions derived from it, alternative interpretations, and critical arguments. The article also discusses methodological procedures proposed by researchers to test the relevant hypotheses and respond to criticism.
Downloads
References
Гершкович, В. А., Замковая, М. Е., Морошкина, Н. В., Гулькин, А. В., Аллахвердов, В. М., Коротков, А. Д., Киреев, М. В., Черниговская, Т. В. (2024). Вызывает ли имплицитная кон-куренция ответов эффекты последействия? Российский психологический журнал, 21(4), 212–232. https://doi.org/10.21702/81awnj76
Gershkovich, V. A., Zamkovaya, M. E., Moroshkina, N. V., Gul'kin, A. V., Allakhverdov, V. M., Korotkov, A. D., Kireev, M. V., Chernigovskaya, T. V. (2024). Does implicit response competi-tion cause aftereffects? Rossiiskii psikhologicheskii zhurnal, 21(4), 212–232. https://doi.org/10.21702/81awnj76 (in Russian)
Фаликман, М. В., Койфман, А.Я. Виды прайминга в исследованиях восприятия и перцептивно-го внимания. (2005). Вестник Московского университета. Серия 14. Психология, (4), 81–90.
Falikman, M. V., Koifman, A. Ya. Vidy praiminga v issledovaniyakh vospriyatiya i pertseptivnogo vnimaniya (The types of priming in the researches of perception and perceptual attention). (2005). Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 14. Psikhologiya, (4), 81–90. (in Russian)
Anderson, M. C. Rethinking interference theory: Executive control and the mechanisms of forgetting. (2003). Journal of Memory and Language, 49(4), 415–445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2003.08.006
Anderson, M. C., Bjork, R. A. (1994). Mechanisms of inhibition in long-term memory: A new tax-onomy. In: D. Dagenbach, T. H. Carr (Eds.), Inhibitory processes in attention, memory, and lan-guage (pp. 265–325). Academic Press.
Anderson, M. C., Hulbert, J. C. (2021). Active forgetting: Adaptation of memory by prefrontal con-trol. Annual Review of Psychology, (72), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-072720-094140
Anderson, M. C., Neely, J. H. (1996). Interference and inhibition in memory retrieval. In: E. L. Bjork, R. A. Bjork (Eds.), Memory (pp. 237–313). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012102570-0/50010-0
Anderson, M. C., Spellman, B. A. (1995). On the status of inhibitory mechanisms in cognition: Memory retrieval as a model case. Psychological Review, 102(1), 68–100. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.102.1.68
Anderson, M. C., Bjork, R. A., Bjork, E. L. (1994). Remembering can cause forgetting: Retrieval dy-namics in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cog-nition, 20(5), 1063–1087. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.20.5.1063
Anderson, M. C., Green, C., McCulloch, K. C. (2000). Similarity and inhibition in long-term memory: Evidence for a two-factor theory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26(5), 1141–1159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.26.5.1141
Bajo, M. T., Gómez-Ariza, C. J., Marful, A. (2021). Inhibitory control of information in memory across domains. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(5), 444–453. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214211039857
Bäuml, K.-H. T., Kliegl, O. (2025). Retrieval-induced remembering and forgetting. In: J. H. Byrne (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of human memory (3rd ed., Vol. 4., pp. 311–327). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-15754-7.00003-1
Ciranni, M. A., Shimamura, A. P. (1999). Retrieval-induced forgetting in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 25(6), 1403–1414. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.25.6.1403
Collins, A. M., Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing. Psycho-logical Review, 82(6), 407–428. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.82.6.407
Coltheart, M., Besner, D., Jonasson, J. T., Davelaar, E. (1979). Phonological encoding in the lexical decision task. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 31(3), 489–507. https://doi.org/10.1080/14640747908400741
Dagenbach, D., Carr, T. H., Barnhardt, T. M. (2007). Adventures in inhibition: Plausibly, but not cer-tifiably, inhibitory processes. In: C. M. MacLeod, D. S. Gorfein (Eds.), Inhibition in cognition (pp. 45–61). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11587-003
Declerck, M., Koch, I. The concept of inhibition in bilingual control. (2023). Psychological Review, 130(4), 953–976. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000367
Duffy, S. A., Morris, R. K., Rayner. K. (1988). Lexical ambiguity and fixation times in reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 27(4), 429–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-596X(88)90066-6
Faust, M. E., Balota, D. A., Duchek, J. M., Gernsbacher, M. A., Smith, S. (1997). Inhibitory control during sentence comprehension in individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer type. Brain and Language, 57(2), 225–253. https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.1997.1747
Foss, D. J., Bever, T., Silver, M. (1968). The comprehension and verification of ambiguous sentenc-es. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 4(5), 304–306. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210520
Gaskell, M. G., Cairney, S. A., Rodd, J. M. (2019). Contextual priming of word meanings is stabi-lized over sleep. Cognition, (182), 109–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2018.09.007
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1989). Mechanisms that improve referential access. Cognition, 32(2), 99–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(89)90001-2
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1991). Comprehending conceptual anaphors. Language and Cognitive Process-es, 6(2), 81–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690969108406939
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1990). Language comprehension as structure building (1st ed.). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203772157
Gernsbacher. M. A. (1995). The structure building framework: What it is, what it might also be, and why. In: B. K. Britton, A. C. Graesser (Eds.), Models of Text Understanding. Hillsdale (pp. 289–311). Erlbaum.
Gernsbacher, M. A., Faust, M. E. (1991а). The mechanism of suppression: A component of general comprehension skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17(2), 245–262. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.17.2.245
Gernsbacher, M. A., Faust, M. E. (1991b). The role of suppression in sentence comprehension. In: G. B. Simpson (Ed.), Understanding word and sentence (Advances in psychology) (Vol. 77, pp. 97–128). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4115(08)61531-9
Gernsbacher, M. A., Keysar, B., Robertson, R. R., Werner, N. K. (2001a). The role of suppression and enhancement in understanding metaphors. Journal of Memory and Language, 45(3), 433–450. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2000.2782
Gernsbacher, M. A., Robertson, R. R. W., Werner, N. K. (2001b). The costs and benefits of mean-ing. In: D. S. Gorfein (Ed.), On the consequences of meaning selection: Perspectives on resolving lexical ambiguity (pp. 119–137). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10459-007
Gilbert, R. A., Davis, M. H., Gaskell, M. G., Rodd, J. M. (2021). The relationship between sentence comprehension and lexical-semantic retuning. Journal of Memory and Language, (116), Article 104188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2020.104188
Gorfein, D. S. (2001). An activation-selection view of homograph disambiguation: A matter of em-phasis? In: D. S. Gorfein (Ed.), On the consequences of meaning selection: Perspectives on re-solving lexical ambiguity (pp. 157–173). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10459-009
Gorfein, D. S., Brown, V. R. (2007). Saying no to inhibition: The encoding and use of words. In: D. S. Gorfein, C. M. MacLeod (Eds.), Inhibition in cognition (pp. 103–124). American Psycho-logical Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11587-006
Gorfein, D. S., Brown, V. R., DeBiasi, C. (2007). The activation–selection model of meaning: Ex-plaining why the son comes out after the sun. Memory and Cognition, 35(8), 1986–2000. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192931
Houghton, G., Tipper, S. P. (1994). A model of inhibitory mechanisms in selective attention. In: D. Dagenbach, T. H. Carr (Eds.), Inhibitory processes in attention, memory, and language (pp. 53–112). Academic Press.
Hulbert, J. C., Shivde, G., Anderson, M. C. (2012). Evidence against associative blocking as a cause of cue-independent retrieval-induced forgetting. Experimental Psychology, 59(1), 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000120
Johnson, S. K., Anderson, M. C. (2024). The role of inhibitory control in forgetting semantic knowledge. Psychological Science, 15(7), 448–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00700.x
Jonker, T. R., Seli, P., MacLeod, C. M. (2013). Putting retrieval-induced forgetting in context: An inhibition-free, context-based account. Psychological Review, 120(4), 852–872. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034246
Kintsch, W. (1988). The role of knowledge in discourse comprehension: A construction-integration model. Psychological Review, 95(2), 163–182. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.163
Levy, B. J., Anderson, M. C. (2008). Individual differences in the suppression of unwanted memo-ries: The executive deficit hypothesis. Acta Psychologica, 127(3), 623–635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.12.004
Long, D. L., Seely, M. R., Oppy, B. J. (1999). The strategic nature of less skilled readers' suppres-sion problems. Discourse Processes, 27(3), 281–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/01638539909545064
Maciejewski, G., Klepousniotou, E. (2020). Disambiguating the ambiguity disadvantage effect: Be-havioral and electrophysiological evidence for semantic competition. Journal of Experimental Psy-chology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46(9), 1682–1700. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000842
Macizo, P., Bajo, T., Cruz Martín, M. (2010). Inhibitory processes in bilingual language comprehen-sion: Evidence from Spanish–English interlexical homographs. Journal of Memory and Language, 63(2), 232–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2010.04.002
MacKay, D. G. (1966). To end ambiguous sentences. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 1(5), 426–436. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207422
MacLeod, C. M., Dodd, M. D., Sheard, E. D., Wilson, D. E., Bibi, U. (2003). In opposition to inhibi-tion. In: B. H. Ross (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 43, pp. 163–214). Elsevier Science.
MacLeod, C. M. (2007). The concept of inhibition in cognition. In: D. S. Gorfein, C. M. MacLeod (Eds.), Inhibition in cognition (pp. 3–23). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11587-001
Mak, M. H. C., Curtis, A. J., Rodd, J. M., Gaskell, M. G. (2023). Episodic memory and sleep are involved in the maintenance of context-specific lexical information. Journal of Experimental Psy-chology: General, 152(11), 3087–3115. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001435
Marsh, L., Anderson, M. C. (2024). Inhibition as a cause of forgetting. In: M. J. Kahana, A. D. Wagner (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of human memory (Vol. 1, pp. 1–17). Oxford Uni-versity Press.
McNamara, D. S. (1997). Comprehension skill: A knowledge-based account. In: Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 508–513). Erlbaum.
Moulin, C. J. A., Perfect, T. J., Conway, M. A., North, A. S., Jones, R. W., James, N. (2002). Re-trieval-induced forgetting in Alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychologia, 40(7), 862–867. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0028-3932(01)00168-3
Murayama, K., Miyatsu, T., Buchli, D., Storm, B. C. (2014). Forgetting as a consequence of retrieval: A meta-analytic review of retrieval-induced forgetting. Psychological Bulletin, 140(5), 1383–1409. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037505
Neely, J. H. (1976). Semantic priming and retrieval from lexical memory: Evidence for facilitatory and inhibitory processes. Memory and Cognition, 4(5), 648–654. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213230
Neill, W. T. (1989). Lexical ambiguity and context: An activation-suppression model. In: D. S. Gorfein (Ed.), Resolving semantic ambiguity (pp. 109–134). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3596-5_6
Neill, W. T., Westberry, R. L. (1987). Selective attention and the suppression of cognitive noise. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13(2), 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.13.2.327
Neill, W. T., Valdes, L. A., Terry, K. M., Gorfein, D. S. (1992). Persistence of negative priming: II. Evidence for episodic trace retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 18(5), 993–1000. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.18.5.993
Nievas, F., Marí-Beffa, P. (2002). Negative priming from the non-selected meaning of the homo-graph. British Journal of Psychology, 93(1), 47–66. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712602162445
Pepe, N. W., Moyer, A., Peña, T. (2023). Deceitful Hints: a Meta-Analytic Review of the Part-List Cuing Impairment in Recall. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, (30), 1243–1272. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02263-9
Perfect, T. J., Stark, L.-J., Tree, J. J., Moulin, C. J. A., Ahmed, L., Hutter, R. (2004). Transfer appro-priate forgetting: The cue-dependent nature of retrieval-induced forgetting. Journal of Memory and Language, 51(3), 399–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2004.06.003
Pollatsek, A., Perea, M., Binder, K. S. (1999). The effects of "neighborhood size" in reading and lex-ical decision. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 25(4), 1142–1158. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.25.4.1142
Raaijmakers, J. G. W., Jakab, E. (2013). Rethinking inhibition theory: On the problematic status of the inhibition theory for forgetting. Journal of Memory and Language, 68(2), 98–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.10.002
Rodd, J., Gaskell, G., Marslen-Wilson, W. (2002). Making sense of semantic ambiguity: Semantic competition in lexical access. Journal of Memory and Language, 46(2), 245–266. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2001.2810
Rodd, J. M. (2004). When do leotards get their spots? Semantic activation of lexical neighbors in vis-ual word recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, (11), 434–439. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196591
Rodd, J. M., Lopez Cutrin, B., Kirsch, H., Millar, A., Davis, M. H. (2013). Long-term priming of the meanings of ambiguous words. Journal of Memory and Language, 68(2), 180–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.08.002
Roediger, H. L., Neely, J. H. (1982). Retrieval blocks in episodic and semantic memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie, 36(2), 213–242. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0080640
Rupprecht, J., Bäuml, K.-H. T. (2017). Retrieval-induced versus context-induced forgetting: Can res-tudy preceded by context change simulate retrieval-induced forgetting? Journal of Memory and Language, (93), 259–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2016.10.006
Schacter, D. L. (1987). Implicit memory: History and current status. Journal of Experimental Psy-chology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13(3), 501–518. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.13.3.501
Schilling, C. J., Storm, B. C., Anderson, M. C. (2014). Examining the costs and benefits of inhibition in memory retrieval. Cognition, 133(2), 358–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2014.07.003
Shivde, G., Anderson, M. C. (2001). The role of inhibition in meaning selection: Insights from re-trieval-induced forgetting. In: D. S. Gorfein (Ed.), On the consequences of meaning selection: Per-spectives on resolving lexical ambiguity (pp. 175–190). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10459-010
Slamecka, N. J. (1968). An examination of trace storage in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psy-chology, 76(4, Pt.1), 504–513. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0025695
Storm, B. C., Levy, B. J. (2012). A progress report on the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced for-getting. Memory and Cognition, 40(6), 827–843. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-012-0211-7
Storm, B. C., Angello, G., Buchli, D. R., Koppel, R. H., Little, J. L., Nestojko, J. F. (2015). A review of retrieval-induced forgetting in the contexts of learning, eyewitness memory, social cognition, au-tobiographical memory, and creative cognition. In: B. H. Ross (Ed.), Psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 62, pp. 141–194). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2014.09.005
Swinney, D. A. (1979). Lexical access during sentence comprehension: (Re)consideration of context effects. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 18(6), 645–659. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(79)90355-4
Tempel, T., Ludwig, M., Stolte, J. (2021). Disrupted memory inhibition in dementia of Alzheimer's type. Journal of Neuropsychology, 15(2), 151–161. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnp.12224
Tipper, S. P. (1985). The negative priming effect: Inhibitory priming by ignored objects. The Quar-terly Journal of Experimental Psychology A: Human Experimental Psychology, 37A(4), 571–590. https://doi.org/10.1080/14640748508400920
Van Orden, G. C., Johnston, J. C., Hale, B. L. (1988). Word identification in reading proceeds from spelling to sound to meaning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cog-nition, 14(3), 371–386. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.14.3.371
Verde, M. F. (2013). Retrieval-induced forgetting in recall: Competitor interference revisited. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(5), 1433–1448. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032975
Weller, P. D., Anderson, M. C., Gómez-Ariza, C. J., Bajo, M. T. (2013). On the status of cue inde-pendence as a criterion for memory inhibition: Evidence against the covert blocking hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(4), 1232–1245. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030335
Wöstmann, M., Stormer, V. S., Obleser, J., Addleman, D. A., Andersen, S. K., Gaspelin, N., Geng, J. J., Luck, S. J., Noonan, M. P., Slagter, H. A., Theeuwes, J. (2022). Ten simple rules to study distractor suppression. Progress in Neurobiology, (213), Article 102269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102269
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
