Forgetting: Interference Flashcards
what is forgetting? what are 2 explanations of forgetting?
2
the loss of ability to recall or recognise something that has previously been learned
explanations for forgetting…
• interference
• retrieval failure
interference theory
3
an explanation for forgetting
one memory disrupts our ability to recall another
most likely to occur when the memories have some similarity
retroactive interference
3
current attempts to learn something interfere with past learning
leads to an inability to remember old information
for example, being unable to recall old GCSE material due to learning new A Level material
proactive interference
3
past learning interferes with current attempts to learn something
leads to an inability to recall new information
for example, being unable to drive a new automatic car because learning was done in a manual car
similarity of materials
8
McGeoch and McDonald (1937) found that interference is most likely to occur when the memories have some similarity
they investigated the effects of similarity of material on forgetting
they gave gave participants List A containing 10 adjectives to remember
participants then had to learn List B during a resting interval of 10 minutes
both lists then had to be recalled
if List B contained synonyms of List A, recall was very poor (only 12% of words were recalled correctly)
but if List B was numbers, recall was better (37% of words were recalled correctly)
demonstrates that interference is strongest the more similar the items to be remembered are
x3 evaluation points
artificial research
support for RI
support for PI
EVALUATION
artificial research
4
a limitation of the interference theory is that evidence providing support for the theory comes from laboratory based studies that use tasks that lack mundane realism
in everyday life we rarely have to remember random lists of words
so any findings from studies using such tasks may not reflect the everyday use of memory or how interference impacts people in day to day life
therefore, the theory as a whole may lack ecological validity and findings will be difficult to generalise to real life, meaning that the theory may not be useful in explaining forgetting
EVALUATION
support for RI
6
a strength of the interference theory is that the effects of RI are demonstrated by Müller (1990)
he gave participants a lists of syllables to learn for 6 minutes and then after a retention interval they were asked to recall the list
found that performance decreases if participants are given an intervening task between initial learning and recall
this intervening task resulted in RI because it interfered with what had previously been learned and caused forgetting
therefore, this study supports the interference theory as it demonstrates that retroactive interference may cause forgetting — new attempts to learn something interfere with past learning
this gives the theory reliability, increasing its ability to explain forgetting
EVALUATION
support for PI
7
Underwood (1957) showed that PI can cause forgetting, which supports the interference theory
he analysed the findings from numerous studies
concluded that when participants have to learn a series of word lists, they do not learn the words at the end of the lists as well as the words at the beginning
the more lists a participant has to learn, the worst the overall recall is
for example, if participants memorised over 10 lists they remembered around 20% of what they learned after 24 hours, but if they had only learned one list recall was 70%
this is because each list makes it harder to learn subsequent lists, which can be explained through PI as past attempts to learn interfere with current attempts to learn
this supports the interference theory as it demonstrates that proactive interference can cause forgetting, which gives the theory reliability
