explanations for forgetting - interfernece Flashcards
what is the interference theory
when two pieces of information disrupt each other
results in forgetting for one or both
mainly an explanation for forgetting in LTM
what is proactive interference
occurs when an idle memory interferes with a new one
what is retroactive interference
when a newer memory interferes with an older one
give one strength in the explanations of forgetting - interference
real world interference
strength
evidence of interference effects in more everyday situations
Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to recall names of the teams they had played against during rugby season
players all played for the same interval
but the number of intervening games varied because some players missed matches due to injury
players who played the most games had the poorest recall due to most interference for memory
this study shows that interference can operate in at least some real world situations
increases validity of the theory
give a strength of explanations for forgetting - interference
support from drug studies
strength
evidence of retrograde facilitation
Coehen snd Luijtelar gave participants a list of words and later asked them to recall the list assuming the intervening experiences would act as interference
found that when a lost of words was learnt under the influence of the drug recall one week later was poor
when a list was learned before the drug recall later was better
so the drug actually improved recall of material learned beforehand
Wixted suggest that the drug prevents new info reaching parts of the brain involved in processing memories so it cannot interfere retroactively with the information already stored
shows that forgetting can be due to interference - reduce interference snd you reduce forgetting
give a limitation of explanations for forgetting - interference
interference and cues
limitation
interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues
Tulving et al gave participants lists of words organised into categories
recall averaged about 70 % for the first list
but became progressively worse as participants learned each additional list (proactive interference)
at the end of the procedure the participants were given a cued recall test and told the names of the categories
recall rose again to about 70%
shows that interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM a finding not predicated by the interference theory