Explanations Of Forgetting Flashcards
What is the interference theory?
When 2 pieces of info conflict with each other, resulting in forgetting one/both, or some distortion in memory
Mainly explanation for LTM forgetting
Once info reaches LTM it’s pretty much permanent, so forgetting means we can’t get access to them, but they’re available - inference makes it harder to locate them
What are the types of interference?
Proactive interference - when older memory interferes with newer one
E.g. teacher learns many names in past, so difficulty remembering current class names
Retroactive interference - newer memory interferes with older one
E.g. teacher learned many new names this year, she has difficulty remembering names last year
What is the Retrieval Failure Theory?
Forgetting info could be down to insufficient cues:
When info initially placed in memory, associated cues stored at same time
If cues aren’t available at time of recall, may appear as you’ve forgotten info, but due to retrieval failure - inability to access memories there
What is the Encoding Specificity Principle?
If cue there to help us recall info it has to be present at coding & retrieval
Follows this, if cues available at encoding & retrieval are different there’ll be some forgetting
E.g. learning with words sung, recall with words printed
Mnemonic techniques - cues linked to material-to-be-remembered in meaningful way
E.g. STM may lead you to recall all sorts of info about STM
Context-dependent forgetting - other cues also encoded at time of learning but not in meaningful way (external & internal cues)
What is context-dependent forgetting?
Godden & Baddeley (1975)
Procedure - Divers learnt list of words either underwater or land & then asked to recall words either underwater or land - therefore created 4 conditions:
Learn on land - recall on land // learn on land - recall on underwater
learn on underwater - recall on land // learn on underwater - recall underwater
Findings - in 2 of these conditions environmental contexts of learning & recall matched, whereas in other 2 didn’t.
Accurate recall 40% lower in non-matching conditions
External cues available at learning were different from ones at recall, leading to retrieval failure
What is state-dependent forgetting?
Carter & Cassaday (1998):
Gave anti-histamine drugs (treating hay fever) to participants
Anti-histamines had mild sedative effect making participants drowsy
Creates internal physiological state different from ‘normal’ state of being awake & alert
Participants had to learn list of words & passages of prose & then recall info, creating 4 conditions:
Learn on land - recall on land // learn on land - learn on underwater
Learn underwater - recall on land // learn underwater - recall underwater
In conditions where there was mismatch between internal state at learning & recall, performance on memory test significantly worse
So when cues absent, (drowsy learning, alert recall) there’s more forgetting
Evaluate interference theory?
Strength - Evidence from lab studies, one of most consistently demonstrated findings in psych
E.g. - McGeoch & McDonald (1931)
Explain - lab experiments control effects of irrelevant influences, thus give confidence that interference valid explanation for at least some forgetting
Limitation - Artificial materials
E.g. - learning lists of words some distance from learning meaningful things irl, e.g. faces & birthday
Explain - use of artificial tasks makes interference much more likely in lab. Interference may not be as likely explanation for forgetting in everyday life as it is in lab
Strength - Real life studies
E.g. Baddeley & Hitch (1977) - asked rugby players name of teams they played that season. Bc most players had missed games, for some ‘last team’ played was 2 weeks ago or more. Results showed accurate recall didn’t depend on how long ago matches played - more important was games they played in meantime - player’s recall of team better if they’d play no matches since then
Explain - shows interference explanations can apply to at least some everyday situations. Studies like Burke & Skrull demonstrated inference in more everyday situations
What is the research into the effects of similarity as an explanation of forgetting?
McGeoch & McDonald (1931) - studied retroactive interference by changing amount of similarity between 2 sets of materials
Participants had to learn list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy
They then learned new list, there were 6 groups of participants who had to learn different types of lists:
Group 1: synonyms - same meaning
Group 2: antonyms - opposite meanings
Group 3: unrelated words
Group 4: nonsense syllables
Group 5: 3 digit numbers
Group 6: no new list - rested
When participants recalled original list of words, performance depended on nature of 2nd list
Most similar material (synonyms) produced worst recall
Shows interference strongest when memories similar
Evaluate the retrieval failure theory
Strength - wide range of supporting evidence
E.g. Godden & Baddeley (1975) & Carter & Cassaday (1998)
Explain - supporting evidence increases validity of explanation, especially true when retrieval failure occurs in real-life situations as well as highly controlled conditions of lab
Limitation - Questioning context effects - Baddeley (1997) argues content effects aren’t very strong, especially irl
E.g.- hard to find environment as different from land as underwater, in contrast, learning something in 1 room & recalling in another won’t induce much forgetting as not different enough
Explain - real-life applications of retrieval failures due to contrextual cues don’t explain much forget
Limitation - Recall vs Recognition - context effect may be related to kind of memory being tested
E.g. - Godden & Baddeley (1980) replicated their 1975 experiment but participants had to say whether they recognised word read to them from list instead of recalling it themselves. When recognition tested there’s no context-dependent effect; performance was same in all 4 conditions
Explain - Limitation of context effects as presence/absence of cues only affects memory when you test it in certain way
