exp for forgetting : interference Flashcards
what is interference
interference is experienced when two pieces of information conflict with one another resulting in distortion.
Suggests that information in LTM may become confused with one another during encoding
what is proactive interference
proactive interference is when old memories interfere with new memories
what is retroactive interference
Retroactive interference is when new memories impact old memories
what did McGeoch and McDonald study?
They studied retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between 2 sets of materials.Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember all of them.Then they learned a new list.The six groups learnt different types of lists.
what did McGeoch and McDonald find?
They found that the most similar material produced the worst recall meaning that interference is strongest when memories are similar
evaluation: strength evidence from lab studies
interference is one of the most consistently demonstrated findings.Most of these studies show that PI and RI are common ways information can be forgotten from the LTM.This is a strength because lab experiments have control over variables so suggest that the results are valid.
evaluation: strength supported by real life studies
Baddeley and Hitch wanted to see if interference was a better explanation for forgetting than the passage of time.They asked rugby players to recall the names of teams they had played in that season so far every week.Some players had missed games so had less names to recall.Findings showed that recall didn’t depend on how long ago the games took place but the number of games they had played.This showed that interference can be applied to everyday situations and there is high ecological validity.
evaluation: limitation artificial material
There is a greater chance that interference occurs in a lab than in real life situations due to the fact that the stimulus material used are normally a list of words.This is different to what people remember on a daily basis such as birthdays and recipes.This is a limitation because the use of artificial tasks makes interference more likely in the lab which means that interference isn’t applicable to forgetting in everyday life.
evaluation: weakness
time between learning
lab experiments are designed to maximise the possibility of interference.
For practical reasons the time between learning and recalling the list of words is relatively short.The whole experience of learning and recalling should be around an hour long.This means that the results don’t reflect the actual process of interference.
