Interference Flashcards
Interference
Forgetting because one memory blocks another causeing the memory/s to be distorted or forgotten
Proactive interference
Forgetting when already stored older memories disrupt the recall of newer memories
Retroactive interference
Forgetting when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories
What is the main reason for forgetting in the LTM?
Interference, the memories are available but we cant access tehm
Who researched rertoactive interference in 1931?
McGeoch and McDonald
McGeoch and McDonald research
In the experiment studying retroactive interference, the similarity between two sets of materials were changed. Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy
McGeoch and McDonald groups learning different types of new lists
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Words unrelated to the originals
- Consonant syllables
- Three-digit numbers
- No new list
Fidnings of the McGeoch and McDonald study
The participants in group 1 learning a new list of synonyms were the worst at recalling the original list
McGeoch and McDonald conclusions
Interference is strongest when memories are similar
Who researched forgetting adverts in 1988?
Raymond Burke and Thomas Skrull
Bruke and Skrull research
Participants were presented with a series of magazine adverts and had to recall the details of what theu ahd seen, e.g. brand name
Findings of Bruke and Skrull study
Some participants were worse at recalling earlier adverts, and other participants were worse at recalling the later ones. This effect was greater with similar adverts. E.g. the same product with different brands
Alan Baddeleu and Graham Hitch research (1977)
Rugby players were asked to recall the names of the teams they had played against in the rugby season. The players played for the same time interval, but the number of games varied due to injuries
Badeley and Hitch findings
Players who played the most games had the poorest memory - they had the most interference
Baddeley and hitch conclusions
Interference operates in some real-world situations, increasing the validity of the theory
Limitations of interference
Although it causes some forgetting in everyday life, it is unusual because the conditions necessary for interference are rare. This suggests that forgetting may be bettwe explained with another theory, e.g. retrieval failure
Endel Tulving and Joseph Psotka reserach (1971)
Participants were given lists of words in different categories, and given one list at a time. The recalll for the first list was about 70%, but became progressively worse with each additional list leardes. After, the participants were told the names of the catefories and their recall rose to about 70% again
Tulving and Psotka conclusions
Interference causes a temporary loss of accesdibility to memories in the LTM
Anton Coenen and Gilles van Luijtelaar (1997) research
Participants were given a list of words and later asked to recall the list. When the list was leaned while the participants had taken diazepam the recall one week later was worse than the placebo control group. When the list was learned before the drug was taken the recall was better than the placebo group
Coenen and Gilles conclusions
The drug improved the recall of the words learned beforehand, however it prevents new information from reaching the parts of the brain processing memories
These findings show that forgetting can be due to interference
