Explanations for Forgetting Flashcards
what are the two explanations for forgetting
- interference
- retrieval failure
what is forgetting
failing to retrieve memories
what does interference theory say about forgetting
its due to info in the ltm being confused w/disprupted by other info during coding
what does interference lead to
inaccurate recall
what are the two forms of interference
proactive
retroactive
when is interference most likely to occur
when the two memories have similarity
what is proactive interference
original info interferes with an attempt to recall something new
what is retroactive interference
when new info disrupts the recall of original info
who provides support for interference
McGeoch and McDonald
what was the procedure for the study on interference
- p’s given list of 10 words (list A), told to practise until recall 100%
- given list B = either synonyms/nonsense syllables/numbers
- told to remember list B then tested on recall of A
what were the three variations of list B in the study on interference
- synonyms
- nonsense syllables
- numbers
what were the conclusions from the study on interference
it is strongest the more similar the items are
in the study on interference what was the recall of list A like when list B was synonyms
12%
in the study on interference what was the recall of list A like when list B was nonsense syllables
26%
in the study on interference what was the recall of list A like when list B was numbers
37%
what does retrieval failure theory say about forgetting
it occurs in the absence of appropriate cues
what is a cue
a trigger of information that allows us to access a memory
what did tulving come up with
the encoding-specificity principle
what is the encoding-specificity principle
for a cue to be helpful in recall it has to be present at encoding and retrieval
what happens if cues from encoding are different or absent at retrieval
there will be some forgetting
what 3 things does the effectiveness of a cue depend on
- how overloaded it is
- how deeply it was processed at encoding
- how well the cue fits the info associated w it
how does the overloadedness of a cue effect its effectiveness
fewer items associated with the cue, the more effective it is
how does the depth of processing of a cue effect its effectiveness
more effective the deeper it was processed at encoding
how does the appropriateness of a cue effect its effectiveness
the closer the cue is to the original item the more useful it will be
