explainations of forgetting Flashcards
what are the 2 explanations for forgetting
retrieval failure
interference theory
what are the 2 types of interference theory
proactive interference
retroactive interference
define interference theory
when 1 memory blocks another causing one of both memories to be distorted or forgotten
define proactive interference
previously learnt information distorts the new information you are trying to store
e.g: calling a new student by an old students name
define retroactive intereference
new memories distort old ones
e.g: cannot recall the name of old students because you now can only recall the new names
who did the study the proves interference theory
McGeoch and McDonald
Effects of similarity
what was the 6 groups of lists in McGeoch and McDonald’s study
group 1: synonyms
group 2: antonyms
group 3: words unrelated to the original
group 4: consonant syllables
group 5: three digit numbers
group 6: no new list (control condition)
what were the findings of McGeoch and McDonald’s study
the most similar material produced the worst recall and the best recall was when they were given no list and were allowed to relax (the control group)
explain why the findings of McGeoch and McDonald’s study
the more similar the material is the more likely you are to forget due to interference theory as retroactive interference is occurring (new list is causing you to forget the old original list that you need to recall)
what was the procedure in McGeoch and McDonald’s study
participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy an d then were given a list of new words that fell into 6 different categories and then were asked to recall the original list of words
define retrieval
recall of previously stored information in memory
(from LTM to STM)
define cue
a trigger that allows access to a memory
why may forgetting occur
forgetting may occur due to insufficient cues at the time of recall
what is the encoding specificity principle (ESP)
for a cue to be helpful it has to be present at encoding and at retrieval
if cues are different or absent this is when forgetting occurs
what are the 2 types of forgeting
state dependent forgetting
context dependent forgetting
define state dependent forgetting
recall depends on internal cues
(e.g: feeling upset, being drunk)
define context dependent forgetting
recall depends on external cues
( e.g: weather, place, sounds, smells)
who did research into context dependent forgetting
godden and baddeley
1975
what type of participants did godden and baddeley use in their study on context dependent forgetting and why
deep sea divers as they wanted to see how learning on land affected work underwater
what was the procedure of godden and baddeley’s study
diver learnt a list of words on land or underwater and then had to recall that list on land or underwater
what were the 4 conditions in godden and baddeley’s study
encoding on land retrieval on land
encoding on land retrieval underwater
encoding underwater retrieval on land
encoding underwater retrieval underwater
in which conditions did participants perform best in godden and baddeleys study
land and land was the best followed by underwater and underwater
what were the findings in % if the conditions idn’t match
accurate recall was 40% lower
explain the findings of godden and baddeley’s study
when cues during learning are different to cues during recall this led to retrieval failure
