Despite the fact that list-method directed forgetting instruction leads to decreases in memory performance on tests of free recall, there are to date no published reports of comparable effects in recognition testing. In the present article, we evaluated whether conditions that promote the importance of context in recognition, either via stimulus selection (Experiments 1 and 2) or by test choice (Experiment 3), elicit directed forgetting impairment. In all three experiments, we obtained reliable recognition deficits, suggesting that the typical conditions of recognition, rather than recognition itself, underlie the discrepancy between the tests of recognition and free recall in list-method directed forgetting.