Directed forgetting and intratrial interference in pigeon delayed matching.

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Abstract
Pigeons were tested in an intratrial interference preparation in which 2 stimuli (red and green fields) were presented successively as samples and then simultaneously as comparison stimuli. Choice of the comparison matching the 2nd sample was designated correct and was reinforced. On different trials, either the 1st or 2nd sample was followed by a cue to forget (horizontal line), and the alternate sample was followed by a cue to remember (vertical line). Relative to baseline trials in which both samples were followed by a cue to remember, accuracy was enhanced on trials in which the forget cue was presented immediately following the 1st sample and was reduced on trials in which the forget cue was presented immediately following the 2nd sample. Evidently, presentation of a forget cue can act to reduce memory differentially for 1 of 2 samples presented on a trial. The context-retrieval interpretation of directed forgetting could not account for this pattern of findings. The rehearsal interpretation of directed forgetting provided a ready account of the data, an account which was tested and supported in the final experiment.

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