CONCEPT
New Theory of Disuse
The Bjorks' 1992 framework proposing that every memory possesses two independent strengths—storage (depth of encoding) and retrieval (current accessibility)—and that forgetting reflects loss of retrieval strength, not storage strength.
The New Theory of Disuse revolutionized the understanding of human memory by replacing the single-dimension model (strong memory versus weak memory) with a two-dimension architecture. Storage strength reflects how richly and deeply an item is encoded—how many connections it has to other knowledge, how well integrated it is into the broader cognitive structure. Retrieval strength reflects how easily the item can be accessed at a given moment. The two dimensions are independent: a childhood memory may have high storage strength but low current retrieval strength (hard to access but rich when retrieved); a phone number just looked up has high retrieval strength but minimal storage strength (easy to access, gone in minutes). This independence resolves the paradox of desirable difficulties: spacing, generation, and interleaving reduce current retrieval strength (making practice feel harder) while building storage strength (making retention stronger).
In The You On AI Field Guide
The theory's most provocative claim reframes forgetting as adaptive rather than pathological. Forgetting is not