Mastery-Approach Goals Eliminate Retrieval-Induced Forgetting: the Role of Achievement Goals in Memory Inhibition

The present study examined how achievement goals affect retrieval-induced forgetting. researchers have suggested that mastery-approach goals (i.e.,developing one’s own competence) promote a relational encoding,whereas performance-approach goals (i.e.,demonstrating one’s ability in comparison with others) promote item-specific encoding. these different encoding processes may affect the degree to which participants integrate the exemplars within a category and,as a result,we expected that retrieval-induced forgetting may be reduced or eliminated under mastery-approach goals. three experiments were conducted using a retrieval-practice paradigm with different stimuli,where participants’ achievement goals were manipulated through brief written instructions. a meta-analysis that synthesized the results of the three experiments showed that retrieval-induced forgetting was not statistically significant in the mastery-approach goal condition,whereas it was statistically significant in the performance-approach goal condition. these results suggest that mastery-approach goals eliminate retrieval-induced forgetting,but performance-approach goals do not,demonstrating that motivation factors can influence inhibition and forgetting. © 2015 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc