explanations of forgetting Flashcards
interference definition
- forgetting because one memory disrupts another, causing both memories to be distorted/forgotten
- proposed as an explanation for forgetting LTMs because we cant access them even though they are available
proactive interference
- forgetting occurs when older memories(older stored) disrupt the recall of newer memories
- degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar
retroactive interference
- forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored
- degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar
McGeoch and McDonald study
- retroactive interference
- participants learnt 10 words until they could 100% remember them
- then they learned a new list
- groups of participants included: (synonyms, antonyms, words unrelated to og list, nonsense syllables, 3 digit numbers, no new list)
- the performance of recalling the original list depended on the nature of the 2nd list (most similar ones produced worse recall)
- suggests that interference is strongest when memories are most similar
supporting evidence for interference theory from McGeoch and McDonald’s study
…
- suggests that interference is strongest when memories are most similar
- supports retroactive interference
weakness of supporting evidence for interference theory
- much greater chance that interference will happen in a lab than in real-life
- artificial stimulus doesnt reflect real life
- so studies cant provide strong support for interference theory
undermining evidence for interference theory from the idea that forgetting is temporary
- loss of info may only be temporary
- as info is still available but inaccessible
- Tulving and Psotka found that when they gave participants a cued recall test, recall rose to 70%
supporting evidence for interference theory from Tulving and Psotka
- gave participants lists of words organised in categories
- recall averaged at 70% for 1st list and became progressively worse as they learned each additional list
- supports proactive interference
retrieval failure theory
forgetting occurs due to the absence of appropriate cues (a trigger of information that allows us to access a memory) to trigger recall
the encoding specificity principle
for a cue to be helpful at recall, it has to be present at encoding and retrieval. If the cues at encoding and retrieval are different, or the cues are completely absent at retrieval, there will be some forgetting
what is an inaccessible memory
when the memory is inaccessible due to the lack of cues to trigger recall, but the memories are available
context dependent forgetting
the idea that a cue is the place where you learnt the information
state dependent forgetting
the idea that the cue is your mood or state of arousal (being drunk/high)
Godden and Baddeley’s study of deep sea divers
- divers learnt list of words either on land/underwater
- asked to recall the words on land/underwater
- divers whose context was different at encoding and recall could recall 40% fewer words than those in conditions 1 and 4
Carter and Cassaday’s study of anti-histamine drugs
- gave hay fever drugs to participants which had a mild sedative effect
- which is a different state of arousal
- participants learnt lists of words and recalled the information either on the drug or not on the drug
- those in the conditions where their state of arousal was different at recall than at encoding recalled fewer words
supporting research of retrieval failure from Godden and Baddeley and Carter and Cassaday
- recall was lower in non-matching test conditions
- supports validity of retrieval failure explanation
- as retrieval failure happens in real life situations as well as controlled lab
weakness of supporting research from Baddeley
- argues that context effects are not that strong irl
- contexts would have to be extremely different
- suggests that study cant provide strong support because it isnt generalisable
real world application of retrieval failure
- cognitive interview on eye witness testimonies using context dependent forgetting
- knowledge of theory is useful in real-life situations so is externally valid
weakness of retrieval failure from the idea that forgetting is temporary
- loss of info is temporary as memory is available just inaccessible
- so lack of accessibility may be temporary
- so theory may not be a true explanation of forgetting
