Selective retention, in relating to the mind, is the process when 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

Memory

In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....

, narrowing the informational flow.

Such examples could 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 be 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 strata of creative limitation

Creative limitation

Creative limitation is the practice of purposely limiting oneself to the ends of achieving a novel effect or goal that is not otherwise possible using conventional, readily accessible, methods...

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