The Role of Emotion in Forgetting

In order to understand forgetting, we must have an understanding of memory. According to the Oxford English Dictionary memory is “the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.” Forgetting therefore is our inability to retrieve information from our memory. Some argue that when emotions impact on memory, then forgetting is an unwillingness to remember information rather than an inability to do so. The main consideration in exploring the impact of emotion on forgetting is whether we forget for a reason. It has been suggested that when we forget, the information is not lost forever; it is simply inaccessible to us for a number of reasons. One suggestion is that forgetting serves a purpose, to protect us emotionally. In this podcast, I explore this fascinating concept. (With thanks to our sponsor 'Curriculum Press' for providing content for this podcast)