Forgetting - Interference theory Flashcards

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1
Q

what is interference theory?

A

forgetting in the LTM

when 2 pieces of information conflict with each other, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten

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2
Q

what is forgetting?

A

when interference makes it harder to locate memories

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3
Q

what is proactive interference?

A

an old memory interferes with a new one

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4
Q

what is retrospective interference?

A

when a new memory interferes with an old one

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5
Q

what did Underwood and Postman (1960) study?

A

divided participants into 2 groups

Group A: learned a list of word pairs (cat-tree) and a second list where the second word was different (cat-glass)

Group B: only learnt the first list

Found Group B had more accurate recall of the first list of words

example of retrospective interference

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6
Q

what did Baddeley and Hitch (1977) study?

A

interviewed rugby players on their knowledge of what teams played

found players who hadn’t played for a long period of time could recall who had played just as accurately as players who hadn’t played for a short period of time

suggests decay (amount of time) doesn’t affect memory, but intervening games in that time does

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7
Q

what are limitations of research into interference theory?

A

lab research - artificial lists may reduce participants motivation to learn them

lacks ecological validity and mundane realism

accessibility vs availability (Ceraso)

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8
Q

what did Ceraso (1967) find?

A

if recall (availability) was tested after 24 hours, performance remained the same

but if recognition of items (accessibility) was tested, memories showed spontaneous recovery

suggests interference occurs because memories cannot be accessed, not because they’re unavailable

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9
Q

what’s re strengths of research into interference theory?

A

real world applications to advertising (Danaher)

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10
Q

what did Danaher et al (2008) study?

A

found recall and recognition of an advertisers message was reduced when exposed to two advertisements for competing brands within a week

multiple exposure to an ad on one day may reduce interference and straighten the memory trace

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