Research Article Forgetting the Unforgettable Through Conversation Socially Shared Retrieval-Induced Forgetting of

ABSTRACT—A speaker’s selective recounting of memories shared with a listener will induce both the speaker and the listener to forget unmentioned, relatedmaterial more than unmentioned, unrelated material. We extended this find-ing of within-individual and socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting to well-rehearsed, emotionally intense memories that are similar for the speaker and listener, but differ in specifics. A questionnaire probed participants’ memory of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Questions and responses were grouped into category-exemplar structures. Then, participants selectively rehearsed their answers (using a structured interview in Experiment 1 and a joint recounting between pairs in Experiment 2). In subsequent recognition tests, response times yielded evi-dence of within-individual retrieval-induced forgettin