Explanations Of Forgetting 1. INTERFERENCE Flashcards
What is the interference theory of forgetting?
Forgetting because one memory blocks the recall of another causing one or both memories to be forgotten. Degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar
What is proactive interference?
-Forgetting when older memories disrupt the recall of newer memories.
-Greater when memories are similar
What is retroactive interference?
-Forgetting when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored.
-Greater when memories are similar
What is the key study for proactive interference?
KEPPEL and UNDERWOOD (1962)
What is the aim of KEPPEL and UNDERWOOD (1962)?
Examined the effect of proactive interference on LTM in an experiment that resembles PETERSON and PETERSON (1959)
What is the method of KEPPEL and UNDERWOOD (1962)?
Presented consonant trigrams at different intervals. Prevented rehearsal by counting backwards in threes before recalling.
What are the results of KEPPEL and UNDERWOOD (1962)?
Participants typically recalled the trigrams that were presented first, irrespective of the interval length. Poor at recalling later trigrams as earlier learning of trigrams had interfered with later learning.
What is the conclusion of KEPPEL and UNDERWOOD (1962)?
Proactive interference occurred - the memory for the earlier consonants interfered with the memory for new consonants
What is the key study for retroactive interference?
POSTMAN (1960)
What is the aim of POSTMAN (1960)?
To investigate how retroactive interference affects learning
What is the method of POSTMAN (1960)?
Lab experiments participants split in 2 groups. Both groups had to remember a list of paired words.
•Group A (experimental group) - learn another list of words where second paired word is different
•Group B (control group) - not given a second list
All participants asked to recall the words on the first list
What are the results of POSTMAN (1960)?
Recall of the control group was more accurate than that of the experimental group
What is the conclusion of POSTMAN (1960)?
Learning items in second list interference with participants’ ability to recall the list - example of retroactive interference
Evaluation of interference (+) proactive is supported by research
P-Evidence from lab studies
E-KEPPEL and UNDERWOOD (1962) found participants were able to remember trigrams well in the first trials they had to undertake to learn them but when participants came back for later trials they were poor at recalling them.
First trials = no interference no new info preceding it, well recalled
Later trials = interference because learning of new trigrams interfered with later learning, not recalled well
E-Strenght cos findings demonstrate forgetting occurs when one memory blocks another as the theory claims
L-Theory of proactive interference is valid
Evaluation of interference (+) retroactive interference supported by research
P-Lab study to support it
E-POSTMAN (1960) asked participants to learn list of word pairs. Recall for original list of words was the poorest when participants were asked to learn a second list of words compared to participants that were not asked to learn another list
E-Strength cos findings demonstrate forgetting occurs when one memory blocks another as the theory claims
L-Suggets the theory of retroactive is valid
Evaluation of interference (+) supported by evidence in the real world
P- supported by evidence in real world
E- eg. BADDELEY and HITCH (1977) if interference was a better explanation of forgetting that passage of time. Asked rugby players to remember names of teams they’d played so far. Accurate recall didn’t depend on when the matches took place, it was the number of matches they’d played in the meantime
E-Strength of interference, study shows it’s a valid explanation of forgetting in some everyday situations
L-Real world evidence to the theory and add to its validity
Evaluation of interference (-) only explains forgetting when info is similar
P-only explains forgetting when 2 sets of info are similar
E- eg. Can only explain why we find it difficult to learn French when we already know Spanish however this doesn’t happen often
E-Limitation cos interference theory cannot explain most of the times that we forget info- only applied to specific situations
L-Limited as an explanation
