Explanations for forgetting: Interference

Question 1

Define ‘forgetting’

Answer 1

• The apparent loss or modification of information already encoded and stored in an individuals short or long term memory

Question 2

What is the interference theory?

Answer 2

• Forgetting because one memory blocks another causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten

Question 3

How valid is the interference theory of forgetting?

Answer 3

Valid because:
* Has studies to back it up e.g Schmidt et al (2000)
* Large amounts of supporting data
* Ecological validity- tests in multiple scenarios
* High mundane realism

Question 4

How does the interference theory lack validity?

Answer 4

• Could be selection bias
• Researchers can’t control extrenuous variables

Question 5

Give one strength for the interference theory

Answer 5

OS: is that there is evidence of interference effects in more everday situations:
(Explain Baddeley & Hitchs rugby player study)
This study shows that interference can operate in at least some real world situations, increasing validity of theory

Question 6

Give one limitation for the interference theory.

Answer 6

One limitation is interference theory is temporary & can be overcome by using cues
* In one study researchers gave ppts lists of words organised into categories, one list at a time (ppts were not told what the categories were)
Recall averaged to 70% for first list but became progessively worse as ppts learned each additional list.
* At end of procedure ppts were given cued recall test- told names of categories- Recall rose again to 70%
This shows interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM- A finding that is not predicted by interference theory.

Question 7

What is proactive forgetting?

Answer 7

When old memories disrupt the recall of newer memories

(PION)

e.g doing old GCSE maths when advancing to A-Level

Question 8

What is retroactive forgetting?

Answer 8

When new memories disrupt the recall of older memories

(RINO)

e.g when a new cover of a song makes you forget the old song

Question 9

What was Schmidt et al’s research study?

Answer 9

Schmidt used questionaire data to determine whether interference caused forgetting of real world information- on remebering street names around a school

211 Dutch participants ranging from 11-79 years

Question 10

How is Schmidt’s study valid?

Answer 10

• Large sample & wide age range = high population validity meaning that results from the study can be generalised
• High mundane realism due to a ‘natural’ memory task- gives study high ecological validity
• Data is quantative & objective means is less subjective to bias suggesting results are accurate

This means you can generalise findings beyond research situation

Question 11

What was Schmidt’s findings from his study?

Answer 11

• Schmidt found a positive correlation between the number of times participants had moved house since leaving school and the number of street names around their school they had forgotten.
• This supports the idea that retroactive interference can lead to the forgetting of similar pieces of information as the new memories affect the ability to recall the old ones

This study increases the validity of the theory

Question 12

How does Schmidt’s study lack validity?

Answer 12

• Couldn’t control participant variables e.g visits to the area around the school, since leaving the school- this may have impacted the results
• Data is corelational-only shows a relationship between retroactive information & forgetting

Question 13

What was Baddeley’s study?

Answer 13

• Asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams they had played against during a rugby season.
• The players all played for the same time interval (over one season) but the number of intervening games varied because some players missed matches due to injury
• Players who played the most games (most interference memory) had the poorest recall

Question 14

How is Baddeley’ s study valid?

Answer 14

High mundane realism and ecological validity

Question 15

How does Baddeley’s research lack validity?

Answer 15

• Lower validity because lack of control variables e.g conversations between players about matches or head injuries that might lead to issues of forgetting
• Low population validity

Question 16

What was the lab research used in theories of forgetting?

Answer 16

• In 1957 underwood published a study about theorys of forgetting in which he compared the results of a number of researchers and showed that the more verbal lists test subjects had learned before when learning similar lists, the greater is the degree of forgetting

Meta analysis of previous studies- An anaylsis of the data of exisitng studies on a topic to identify the overall results from a range of studies

Question 17

How valid is Underwoods theory?

Answer 17

• High vailidity because the study shows that interference can operate in at least some real world situations, increasing the validity of the theory
• High population validity- Large amounts of data
• Reliability & accuracy as all of the results are the same/similar

Question 18

How does underwoods theory lack validity?

Answer 18

Selection bias- might of selected studies that went along with his theory