Explanations for forgetting: Interference Flashcards
forgetting
when stored memories in LTM is available but cannot be accessed
interference
Interference is when one memory conflicts with another, therefore forgetting occurs. Interference has mainly been proposed as an explanation for forgetting in LTM.
what are the two types pf interference
proactive interference
retroactive interference
proactive interference, with example
old memories conflict with new memories so new memories are forgotten. For example, a teacher has learnt so many names in the past that she has difficulty remembering the names of her current class.
retroactive interference, with example
new memories conflict with old memories so old memories are forgotten. For example, a teacher has learnt so many new names this year that she has difficulty remembering the names of the students last year
when is interference worse
Interference is worse when information is similar
Research on effects of similarity
McGeoh and McDonald
studied retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between two sets of materials. Px’s had to learn a list of 10 words with 100% accuracy, the px’s were then split into 6 groups and learned a new list:
1st group = synonyms
2nd group = antonyms
3rd group = unrelated words
4th group = consonant syllables
5th group = 3 digit numbers
6th group = no new list/ control group
The researcher then asked px to recall original list
px performance was dependent on second list. Group 1 had worst recall as the info was similar. Group 6 had highest recall as no conflict of new info. Shows that interference is strongest when info is similar.
Evaluation of interference as an explanation of forgetting (brief)
strength - evidence is everyday situations HOWEVER it’s unusual
strength - support from drug studies
weakness - interference is temporary and can be overcome by cues
strengths of interference
there’s evidence of interference effects in more everyday situations. Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams they’d played during the season. Players who played the most games (most interference for memory) had poorest recall. Increases validity of study as it shows the theory is applicable in some real-world situations. HOWEVER, interference may cause forgetting in some everyday situations but it is unusual. This is because conditions for interference to occur are quite rare as the two memories have to be very similar to each other. This suggests that forgetting may be better explained by other theories such as retrieval failure due to lack of cues.
support from drug studies. Found that when a list of words was learned under the influence of the drug diazepam, recall one week later was poor (compared to a placebo control group). But when list learned before the drug was taken, later recall was better than placebo. This suggests that the drug prevents new info reaching parts of brain involved in processing memories, so it cannot interfere retroactively with info already stored. These findings show that forgetting can be due to interference which increase the theory’s validity.
weaknesses of interference
interference is temporary and can be overcome using cues. Tulving and Psotka had px’s recall lists of words organised into categories, though they were not told what the categories were. Recall after first list was 70%, but got worse as px learned each list (proactive interference). At end of procedure, px’s given a cued recall test and recall rose to 70% again. Showing that interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material still in LTM , which wasn’t predicted by interference theory.
