 He is the creator of the directed forgetting paradigm.He got his BA degree in mathematics from the University of Minnesota in 1961, and then studied psychology under William Kaye Estes, Richard C. Atkinson, Gordon H. Bower, and James Greeno at Stanford University until he graduated from it in 1966.He has served as Editor of Memory & Cognition (1981–85); Editor of Psychological Review (1995–2000); Co-editor of Psychological Science in the Public Interest (1998–2004), and Chair of a National Research Council Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement of Human Performance (1988–94).