4.1.2 INTERFERENCE Flashcards
what is forgetting?
- the failure to retrieve memories
what is interference?
- an explanation for forgetting from LTM
- two sets of similar information in the LTM become confused with or disrupted by other information during encoding
- this leads to inaccurate recall
what is retroactive interference?
- retro = backward
- where new learning prevents recall of previously learned information
- later learning interferes with earlier learning
- new memories disrupt old memories
what is proactive interference?
- pro = forward
- where old learning prevents recall f more recent information
- when what we already know interferes with what we’re currently learning
- where old memories disrupt new memories
when are proactive and retroactive interference thought to be more likely to occur?
- more likely to occur when the memories are similar
- eg) confusing old and new telephone numbers
what was the aim of Schmidt et al’s study in 2000?
- to access influence of retroactive interference upon memory of street names learning during childhood
what was the procedure Schmidt et al used?
- 700 ppts were randomly selected from a database of 1700 students at a Dutch school
- they were all sent a questionnaire
- 211 responded (age 11-79)
- they were given a map of the area
- the 48 street names replaced with numbers
- asked to remember as many as possible
- relevant details were collected
- including: how many times the ppt had moved house, where they
lived etc
how was retroactive interference accessed?
- by the number of times indicates had moved to other neighbours or cities
- thus learning new street names
what were the findings of this study?
- positive association between number of times ppts had moved house and the number of street names forgotten
- retroactive interference is potentially causing forgetting
- supports interference theory
evaluate a strength of this study?
- ecological validity is quite high as it has real life applications
evaluate weaknesses of this study
- extraneous variables are present
eg) - IQ
- age
- how long they attended the school
- questionnaire completed at home, they could’ve cheated
- form of travel to the school
what was the procedure of Baddeley and Hitch study in 1977?
- asked rugby players to remember as many teams as possible they’d played
how was interference tested?
- by accessing how recall was affected by number of games played
what was the conclusion of forgetting and interference?
- forgetting was due to the number of games played rather than the amount of time passed
- supports interference as the more games that were played, the more interference was experienced
what was the procedure of the McGeoch and Mcdonald study in 1931?
- studied retroactive interference
- changed the amount of similarity between two sets of materials
- ppts learnt a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy
- learnt a new list
there were 6 groups of ppts who learnt different types of lists
what were these lists?
- group 1 -> synonyms - words with same meanings as the original
- group 2 -> antonyms - words with opposite meanings to the
original - group 3 -> words unrelated to the original ones
- group 4 -> consonant syllables
- group 5 -> three-digit numbers
- group 6 -> no new list - these participants just rested
what were the findings of this study?
- when ppt recalled the original list of words
- their performance depended on the nature of the second list
- most similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall
- this shows that interference is the strongest when memories are similar
what were the strengths of this study?
- studies show that both types of interference are very likely to be common ways we forget information from LTM
-> lab experiments control the effects of irrelevant influences
↳ therefore give us confidence that interference is a valid
explanation for at least some forgetting
proactive and retroactive interference are reliable and robust effects
there are several problems with interference theory an as explanation of forgetting
what are these?
- interference theory tells us little about the cognitive processes involved in forgetting
- majority of research into the role of interference in forgetting has been carried out in laboratory settings using lists of words
-> a situation which is likely to occur infrequently in everyday life
-> low ecological validity
-> may not be possible to generalise from the findings - how much forgetting can be attributed to interference remains unclear
