Research
Our research focuses broadly on human memory with a special focus on the causes and consequences of forgetting. We are particularly interested in the role of forgetting in resolving competition during retrieval, overcoming mental blocks in thinking and problem solving, updating long-term memory, and facilitating new learning. Developing a more complete understanding of how people learn, think, and remember requires a more complete understanding of how and why they forget. We are also interested in how basic cognitive processes are becoming increasingly intertwined with digital technologies, and the implications of this intertwinement for the everyday use and functioning of human memory.
Mechanisms of Forgetting in Human Memory
When attempting to retrieve a target item, non-target items associated with the same retrieval cue can become activated, creating competition, and requiring that the items causing that competition be inhibited. This inhibition may explain a rather unintuitive observation—that retrieving some items from memory causes the forgetting of other items in memory, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting. Our research has sought to elucidate the mechanisms underlying retrieval-induced forgetting and to explore their potential role in memory and other cognitive and psychological contexts (e.g., Murayama, Miyatsu, Buchli, & Storm, 2014; Storm, 2011; 2018; Storm, Angello, Buchli, Koppel, Little, & Nestojko, 2015; Storm & Levy, 2012).
Creative Cognition
There are many contexts in which it would be impossible to create or generation something new without sufficient context and background. In other contexts, existing knowledge can cause mental fixation by impeding the generation of new ideas and solutions. Whether in the context of art, engineering, or science, to create or to think of something new often requires moving beyond what is already known. Our research has examined the mechanisms by which people overcome fixation to generate creative ideas and solve problems (e.g., Ditta & Storm, 2018; George, Wiley, Koppel, & Storm, 2019; Storm & Angello, 2010; Storm, Angello, & Bjork, 2011; Storm & Oliva, 2024; Storm & Patel, 2014).
Learning and Metacognition
Students and teachers tend to create conditions of learning that facilitate effortless acquisition and high levels of immediate performance. Research has shown that these conditions are not nearly as effective as they appear to be. The crux of the problem seems to lie in people’s view of forgetting as the undoing of learning, rather than as a critical component of learning. In this research, we explore the mechanisms by which forgetting and difficulty enable new learning (e.g., James & Storm, 2019; Overoye, James, & Storm, 2021; Overoye & Storm, 2015; Storm, Bjork, & Storm, 2010; Storm, Friedman, Murayama, & Bjork, 2014; Yue, Storm, Kornell, & Bjork, 2015).
Cognitive Offloading and Digital Technology
The ways in which people learn, remember, socialize, and solve problems are being reshaped by technology. In this research, we are exploring memory dynamics in the context of computers, smartphones, and the Internet, focusing in particular on how people interact with digital technologies to engage in cognitive offloading and form transactive memory systems (e.g., Marcos & Storm, 2018; Storm, 2019; Storm, Bittner, & Yamashiro, 2024; Storm & Soares, 2024). Our work has shown, for example, that saving old information on a computer can make it easier to learn new information, that taking photos with an iPhone can make it more difficult to remember the experience being photographed, and that using the Internet to retrieve information can influence metacognitive judgments and a person’s tendency to rely on the Internet to retrieve other information. Our research suggests that basic memory functions are being affected by the ready availability of external storage and the type of accessibility afforded by digital technology (e.g., Ditta, Soares, & Storm, 2023; Fellers & Storm, 2024; Schooler & Storm, 2021; Soares & Storm, 2018; Stone & Storm, 2021; Storm & Stone, 2015; Storm, Stone, & Benjamin, 2017).
