Selective retention

Selective retention, in relating to the mind, is the process whereby people more accurately remember messages that are closer to their interests, values and beliefs, than those that are in contrast with their values and beliefs, selecting what to keep in the memory, narrowing the information flow.^[1]

Examples include:

• A person may gradually reflect more positively on their time at school as they grow older
• A consumer might remember only the positive health benefits of a product they enjoy
• People tending to omit problems and disputes in past relationships
• A conspiracy theorist paying less attention to facts which do not aid their standpoint

Outside of the theory of memory and mind, selective retention may also refer to the retaining of contractual agreements upon moving on in open politics or of physical phenotypes in eugenic methods of propagation of traits and features of a genome, among other fields where action can impose a stratum of creative limitation.

Factors that influence selective retention

• Sleep: There is research supporting that the more sleep an individual gets the more likely said individual is to retain a set of information. To opposes this, the research also supports that the less sleep an individual gets the less information that individual is likely to retain.^[2]
• Education and schooling: The manner and way in which things are taught significantly influences a student's retention of a specific subject matter or concept. Students who are more engaged (both in the lessons themselves and attendance) tend to have higher retention than students who are not as involved or present in their schooling. There is also an emphasis placed on pictorial learning and visual aids in the classroom to aid students in retention.^[3]

See also

• Confirmation bias
• Selective attention
• Selective perception

References

• L. J. Shrum. "Selective Perception and Selective Retention". Blackwell. doi:10.1111/b.9781405131995.2008.x. 

• Van Dongen, E. V., Thielen, J., Takashima, A., Barth, M., Fernández, G., & Felmingham, K. (2012). Sleep Supports Selective Retention of Associative Memories Based on Relevance for Future Utilization. Plos ONE, 7(8), 1-6. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0043426
• Wilkinson, A., Parker, T., & Stevenson, H. (1979). Influence of School and Environment on Selective Memory. Child Development, 890-890. Retrieved November 23, 2014, from JSTOR.