FAA Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI)The Learning ProcessEasy
A private pilot who earned an instrument rating five years ago but has not flown any approaches since then finds that most of the specific procedural steps have simply faded from memory, even though no new conflicting information was ever learned. Which theory of forgetting best explains this pilot's memory loss?
- AInterference theory
- BRepression
- CTheory of disuse
- DRetrieval failure due to poor cues
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Theory of disuse
The theory of disuse holds that memories and skills fade or decay over time simply because they are not used, practiced, or reviewed, which matches this scenario of skill loss from years of non-use with no competing information involved.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Interference involves new or old learning actively competing with and blocking recall, not simple disuse.
- B. Repression is unconscious, motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening material, not routine skill decay.
- D. Retrieval failure describes information being stored but temporarily inaccessible due to missing cues, not gradual fading from disuse.
Theory of Disuse (Forgetting)
A theory of forgetting stating that information and skills fade from memory when they are not used or practiced over time.
- Also called the 'fading theory'
- Applies especially to unpracticed motor skills and procedures
- Contrasted with interference and repression theories of forgetting
Memory trick: 'Use it or lose it' — disuse means the memory rusts away unused.