explanations for forgetting: inference

Question 1

AO1: what is interference

Answer 1

forgetting because one memory blocks another

Question 2

AO1: proactive interference

Answer 2

forgetting occurs when an older memory, already stored, disrupts the recall of a new memory

Keppel & Underwood (1962) study: Aim was to investigate the effect of proactive interference on LTM.
Participants were presented with meaningless three‐letter consonant trigrams at different intervals. To prevent rehearsal they had to count backwards in threes before recalling. Found that participants typically remembered the trigrams that were presented first, regardless of the interval length.The results suggest proactive interference occurred, as memory for the earlier consonants interfered with the memory for new
consonants.

Question 3

AO1: retroactive interference

Answer 3

forgetting occurs when a new memory disrupts the recall of older memories already stored

McGeoch and McDonald (1931) study: participants were given a list of ten adjectives to learn (list A). Once these adjectives were learnt, participants were then given one of six other lists (list B) to learn, which varied in terms of its similarity to the original. McGeoch and McDonald found recall was worse when lists A
and B were closest in similarity. This supports the idea of retroactive interference because the more similar the new material is to the previously learnt.

Question 4

AO3: strength- support from natural experiments

limitation- natural experiment

Answer 4

P: support from natural experiments
E: Baddely & Hitch asked rugby players to recall names of teams they played earlier in the season. The last game varied for each player.
E: showed that the probability of correct recall was not dependent on how long ago the game was but how many intervening games there was.
L: supports the idea of retroactive interference
HOWEVER,
was a natural experiment which means that cofounding variables may effect their memory so it is hard to generalise their findings.

Question 5

AO3: limitation- based on lab experiments

strength- reliable

Answer 5

P: the studies are lab experiments
E/E: they are artificial and lack ecological validity. Meaningless stimuli is being used (list of words and trigrams).
L: hard to generalise to target population
HOWEVER,
reliable as stimulus has been standardised and experiments are highly controlled. Meaning the studies can be repeated to checked for consistency, is scientific and can be trusted.

Question 6

AO3: strength- real word application

Answer 6

P: real world application
E: research has shown that when exposed to adverts from competing brands in short periods of time, peoples recall and recognition is impaired.
E: suggests to companies to run multiple exposures over 1 day rather than a week. results in reduced interference from competitors advertisements.
L: This shows how interference research can help adverisers
maximise effectiveness of their campaigns and target their
spending most effectively.

Question 7

AO3: limitation- interference is temporary & can be overcome by using cues

Answer 7

P: temporary and can be overcome by using cues
E/E: study gave list of words in categories to participants, one list at a time. Recall was higher for first list but kept declining at each additional list. However when told category name recall increased.
L: shows interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM, which is not predicted by the interference theory.