Tracy witnessed two men holding up a bank, both wearing camouflage pants. When questioned about the crime, she had a good recall for the pants and described these pants in detail to the policemen. When she was questioned about the crime a month later, she still remembered the pants but had a poor recall for other details. This phenomenon is known as:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Retrieval inhibition is when one aspect of a memory becomes more salient than others and interferes with the retrieval of other details. In this case, Tracy's memory for the camouflage pants was stronger than her memory for other details of the crime. The other options, decay theory, unconscious transference, and the bystander effect, do not match the situation described.

Tracy Witnessed Two Men Holding Up a Bank, Both Wearing