Forgetting (Interference) Flashcards
What is interference
Forgetting because one memory blocks the recall of another, causing one or both memories to be forgotten.
The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar
What is proactive interference
Forgetting occurs when older memories disrupt the recall of newer memories
E.g. teacher has learned so many names in the past that she has difficulty remembering the names of her current class
What is retroactive interference
Forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored
What was the aim of Postmans study
investigate how retroactive interference affects learning
What was the method of Postmans study
lab experiment.
Ppts were split into two groups. Both groups had to remember a list of paired words - e.g. cat - tree, jelly - moss
Group A also had to learn another list of words where the second paired word was different e.g. cat - glass, jelly- time
Group B (The control group) were not given the second list.
All participants were asked to recall the words on the first list
What were the results of Postmans study
recall of the group B was more accurate than group A
What was the conclusion of Postmans study
suggests that learning items in the second list interfered with participants’ ability to recall the list.
example of retroactive interference.
What was the aim of Keppel and Underwoods study
examined the effect of proactive interference on LTM
What was the method of Keppel and Underwoods srudy
Ppts were presented with meaningless three-letter consonant trigrams at different intervals (3, 6, 9 second, etc.).
To prevent rehearsal the participants had to count backwards in threes before recalling. Participants were asked to come back at later stages to take part in a few trials of the task which involved them learning new trigrams.
What were the results of Keppel and Underwoods study
Participants typically recalled the trigrams that were presented first, irrespective of the interval length.
They were also poor at recalling later trigrams as earlier learning of trigrams had interfered with later learning
What was the conclusion of Keppel and Underwoods study
results suggest that proactive interference occurred because the memory for the earlier
consonants interfered with the memory for new consonants.
What are strengths of the theory of interference
- Retroactive interference is supported by research (Postman)
- Proactive interference is supported by research (Keppel and Underwood)
What are limitations of the theory of interference
- low ecological validity
- Only explains forgetting when information is similiar
Evaluate research support for retroactive interference as a strength of interference
P: Support from studies
E: Postman asked participants to learn a list of word pairs. They found that recall for the original list of words was the poorest when participants were asked to learn a second list of words compared to the control group that didn’t learn another list.
E: Strength of interference because the findings demonstrate forgetting occurs when one memory blocks another suggesting the theory is valid.
Evaluate research support for proactive interference as a strength of interference
P: Support from Keppel and Underwood
E: Keppel and Underwood found that ppts were able to remember trigrams well in the first trials to learn them. When they came back for later to learn new trigrams, they were poor at recalling them. Shows that interference prevented the learning of the trigrams in later trials because the trigrams in the first trial were remembered well
E: Strength of interference because the findings demonstrate forgetting occurs when one memory
blocks another as the theory claims. Therefore the theory of proactive interference is valid.
Evaluate low ecological validity as a limitation of interference
P: Studies that support the theory tend to be lab based and have low ecological validity.
E: For example, the study by Keppel & Underwood involved participants recalling trigrams at different time intervals. This not an everyday task and doesn’t test memory in a realistic way.
E: This is a limitation of interference because the theory may not be a valid explanation of forgetting in the real
world (low external validity).
Evaluate that forgetting only occurs when info is similar as a limitation of interference
P: Only explains forgetting when two sets of information are similar.
E: For example, it can only explain why we find it difficult to learn French when we already know German however, this does not happen very often.
E: This is a limitation because interference theory cannot explain most of the times that we forget information;
it can only be applied to very specific situations.
