Explanations for forgetting: interference Flashcards
What is interference?
Forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten.
What is interference mainly an explanation for?
Forgetting in long term memory
It becomes more or less permanent
Therefore most likely cause we cant access them even though they are available
What is proactive interference?
Older memory interferes with a newer one.
What is retroacitve interference?
Newer memory interferes with an older one.
What did McGeoch and McDonald discover?
Interference is worse when the memories are similar in both procative interference and retroactive interference
What did McGeoch and McDonald study?
Effects of similarity on retroactive interference.
What was McGeoch and McDonalds procedure?
Learned list of 10 words until could remember them with 100% accuracy.
Then learned new list
6 groups had to learn different types of lists
1 - synonyms
2 - antonyms
3 - words unrelated to original ones
4 - consonant syllables
5 - three digit numbers
6 - no new list (control condition)
What were the findings of McGeoch and McDonalds procedure?
When asked to recall lists
Most similar material (synonyms) produced worst recall.
Showing interference is strongest when memories are similar
What is an explanation of the effects of similarity? 2 explanations
Could be due to proactive interference
Previously stored info makes new similar info more difficult to store
Could be due to retroactive interference
New info overwrites previously similar memories because of the similarity
What is an evaluation for interference?
Real world interference
Baddeley and Hitch
Rugby players
Recall names of teams hey had played against during rugby season.
Players all played for same interval
Number of intervening games varied due to some having injuries.
Players who played most had poorest recall
Showing interference an operate in at least some real world situations
Increasing validity of theory.
What is an evaluation for interference?
Counterpoint of real world interference
Interference may cause some forgetting in the real world but it is unusual.
Conditions necessary for interference to occur are rare
Unlike lab studies, high control so researcher can create ideal conditions for interference
Suggesting most forgetting may better explained by other theories such as retrieval failure due to lack of cues.
What is an evaluation for interference?
Interference and cues
Interference is temporary
Can be overcome by using cues.
Tulving et al
Paticipants list of words organised into categories
One list at a time
Recalled averaged 70% first list
Progressively worse as participants learned as they learned each additional list
At end given cued recall test
Told names of categories
Recall rose to 70%
Showing interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM, a finding not predicted by interference theory.
What is an evaluation for interference?
Support from drug studies
Retrograde facilitation
Coenen et al
List of words
Later asked to recall
Assuming intervening experiences would act as interference
Found when list of words were learned under influence of drug dizepam
Recall one week later was poor
But when learned before drug was taken
Later recall was better than placebo
Drug actually improved recall of material learned before hand
Wixted
Suggests that the drug prevents new information reaching parts of brain involved in processing memories
So cannot interfere retroactively with information already stored.
Findings showed forgetting can be due to interference
Reduce the interference and you reduce the forgetting.
