Explanations Of Forgetting

Question 1

Interference occurs due to two lots of information coded at different times becoming…

Answer 1

Confused in the LTM. One memory disrupts to ability to recall another memory.

Question 2

Forgetting is most likely to occur when two bits of information are…

Answer 2

Similar

Question 3

The two types of interference are:

Answer 3

Proactive
Retroactive

Question 4

Proactive interference occurs when ….. information disrupts the recall of …. Information stored. Give an example

Answer 4

Past
New / recent.
E.g. a memory of an old phone number means you FORGET your new phone number.

Question 5

Retroactive interference occurs when …. Information stored disrupts the recall of …. Information stored. Give an example

Answer 5

Recent
Past
E.g. the memory of a new registration number means you FORGET your previous registration

Question 6

RTS interference theory was conducted by McGeoch and MacDonald who gave participants a list of 10 words to learn (List A). Participants had to learn the list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy. Participants then had to learn…

Answer 6

A second list of words, list B (interference). Participants then had to recall list A.

Question 7

McGeoch and Macdonald found that if list B was a list of synonyms to list A recall was poor (….%) If the words in list B were different to list A recall was higher (….%).

Answer 7

12
26
This supports interference theory because it demonstrates that interference is the strongest the more similar the items are, which is what the theory predicts.

Question 8

DISCUSSION: A strength of interference is that much of the research e.g. McGeoch and MacDonald is high in reliability. It is conducted in a controlled lab setting ancient therefore can be…

Answer 8

Repeated in the same conditions e.g. give each participant the same time to lear to word list to gain consistent results into the effects of interference on forgetting. THINK FURTHER: interference is one of the most consistently demonstrated findings in the whole of psychology. Most studies show both types of interference are very likely to be common ways that we forget information in the LTM. STRENGTHENING THE SUPORT THE RESEARCH PROVIDES FOR INTERFERENCE THEORY.

Question 9

Critics would arretje there is a much greater chance of interference demonstrated in research studies than in real life situations, due to research lacking mundane realism. Artificial task such as…

Answer 9

Learning lists of words are often used. It is difficult to generalise the findings to real life examples of forgetting as the research doesn’t reflect what we would try to remember in everyday life e.g. birthdays, people’s faces, ingredients to make a cake ect. Maybe there memories are less likely to be contaminated by interference as they are more meaningful to us. Limiting the support the research provides for interference,

Question 10

Baddeley and Hitch conducted research using a real life setting where participants performed a real life task which also supports interference theory. They asked rugby players to recall the names of teams they had played against over a rugby season. Players all played for the same time interval, however some players had played all games, some…

Answer 10

Had not, due to injury. They found that players who had played more games forgot proportionally more games than those who played fewer games. This supports interference theory as it demonstrates games became confused in the memory and therefore less likely to be recalled, rather than being due to the amount of time passed.

Question 11

Retrieval failure due to absence of cues suggests that forgetting occurs when information is still in the LTM but can be accessed due to lack of…

Answer 11

Memory cues

Question 12

Context dependent forgetting occurs due to lack of external cues to trigger recall, because the environment is different at…

Answer 12

Recall to when information wad coded meaning forgetting is more likely. E.g. a person may forget information sitting an exam in a different classroom which they learned the information .

Question 13

State dependent forgetting suggests forgetting occurs dues to a lack of internal cues to trigger recall because the persons internal physical and/ or emotional state is different at…

Answer 13

Recall to when the information was coded, meaning forgetting is more likely. E.g. a person may forget a dance routine on stage as when they learned it they were calm, but on stage they’re anxious

Question 14

RTS context dependent forgetting by Goodwin & Baddeley. Sauber divers were given a list of words to learn either on land or under water. They were then asked to recall the list either…

Answer 14

In the same setting they learned or the opposite.

Question 15

RTS context dependent forgetting - Godden and Baddeley. It was found that participants were more likely to forget the words (….% less accuracy) if tested in the opposite location to where they had leaned the words.

Answer 15

40
This supports context dependent forgetting as it shows when there’s a lack of external memory cues, forgetting is more likely.

Question 16

DISCUSSION: However, Baddeley argues that context effects are not very strong, especially in every day life. Contexts must be very different before an effect is seen, for example it would be difficult to find an environment as different from land as water. In contrast, learning something in one room and not recalling in another is unlikely to result in forgetting as these environments are generally…

Answer 16

Not that different enough. This means lack of context cues may not actually a plain forgetting in everyday life.

Question 17

RTS state dependent forgetting comes from Goodwin et al. Male volunteers were asked to learn a list of words when either drunk or sober, then recall the words 24 hours later in either the same of opposite state. Participants were more likely to forget words if tested…

Answer 17

In the opposite state to which they had learned the words. This supports state dependent forgetting as it suggests when there’s a lack of internal memory cues (different physical or emotional states), forgetting is more likely.

Question 18

Some would argue retrieval theory has useful practical applications and therefore can be applied to everyday life. The Ida that forgetting occurs use to a lack of memory cues has been used to create a techniques used by police in the cognitive interview known as…

Answer 18

Context reinstatement. Witnesses are asked to imagine themselves at the scene of the crime and how they felt whilst recalling events. This has found to be effective in triggering memories as they access internal and external memory cues. Therefore the research into retrieval failure due to an absence of cues is an important part of applied psychology as it helps to provide accurate eyewitness testimonies.