explanations for forgetting: interference Flashcards
what does interference mean?
-two pieces of info disrupt each other
-so u forget one or both
-causes distortion to memory
-makes it harder to locate a memory
what are the types of interference?
proactive and retroactive
what does proactive interference mean?
-older memory interferes w newer memory
(pro means moving forward)
-old to new
-e.g teacher has learnt so many names in the past, she finds it difficult to remember the names of her current class
what does retroactive interference mean?
-newer memory interferes w older memory
-retro means to work backwards
-e.g teacher learnt so many new names this year she has difficulty remembering names of students last year
what was the procedures McGeoch and mcDonald did to research effects on similarity?
-changed amount of similarity between 2 sets of materials
-Ps learnt 10 words until they could remember w 100% accuracy
-then learnt new list
-6 gorups of Ps who had to learn diff types of new lists
what were the different groups?
-grp 1- synoyms - words w same meanings as orginal
-grp 2= antonyms words w diff meanings to orginal
-grp 3 = words unrelated to original
-grp 4= consonant syllables
-grp 5= three digit numbers
-grp 6 = no new list Ps jus rested (control conditon)
what were the findings from McGeoch and McDonald study?
-similar material had worse recall
-interference worse w similar material
what is the explanations for effects of similarity?
-Proactive 1: previosuly stored info makes new similar info more difficult to store
- retroactive 1 - new info overwrites previous similar memroies due to similarity
what are the strengths?
(real world interference)
-baddeley and hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams they had played againist during a rugby season
-number intervening games varied as some players missed games due to the injury
-players who played most games (most interference of memory) had poorest recall
-interfernce in real world app- increases validity
(support for drug studies)
Coenan and Gillies found that diazepam affected recall differently depending on when it was taken. When participants learned a word list under the drug’s influence, recall after a week was worse than the placebo group. However, if the list was learned before taking the drug, recall improved. Wixted suggests this happens because the drug prevents new information from interfering with stored memories. This supports the idea that reducing interference can reduce forgetting.
what are weaknesses?
(counterpoint to real world interference)
-unsual for interefence to be major issue everysay for forgetting
-conditons needed for interference are rare
-only lab studies can create these ideal condions bc its controlled
-two memories need to be similar to interfere w eachother
-may happen occasioanlly e.g u revised similar subjects but not often
-so forgetting may be explanaied by things like retrival failure due to lack of cues
(interference and cues)
can be overcome with cues. Tulving and Psotka tested this by giving participants word lists organized into categories (without revealing the categories). Initial recall was around 70%, but it declined as more lists were learned, showing interference. However, when given category names as cues, recall returned to 70%. This suggests interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility rather than erasing information from LTM, which challenges interference theory.
what are the valdity issues with the studies?
-researchers control varibales so studies show a strong link between interference and foregtting
-but use artifical methodsand unrealistic
-IRL we jus learn something new and recall later as revision
