Interference Flashcards
What is ‘forgetting’
The term is used to refer to a persons loss of ability to recall or recognise something they have previously learned
What is interference theory?
Interference theory claims that forgetting occurs when two lots of information become confused in memory. Interference is more likely to occur when the two lots of information are similar to one another. Inference is less likely to occur when there is a gap between the instances of learning.
What is retroactive interference
when new learning affects the recall of old information
What is proactive interference
when old learning affects the recall of new information
AO3 point 1 -> Underwood (1957) research evidence for proactive interference
Underwood (1957) investigated proactive interference. He found that participants who learned ten lists of words could only recall 20% of the words from the first list the next day. Participants who learned one list of words recalled over 70% of the words the next day.
AO3 Point 2 Research Evidence for retroactive interference (McGeoch & McDonald 1931)
McGeoch and McDonald (1931) demonstrated retroactive interference. They gave participants lists of words that they had to learn until they could recall them with 100% accuracy. Participants then learned a new list. This new list was either synonyms (words with similar meanings to the words on the original list) or antonyms (words unrelated to the original list). Participants were then asked to remember the original list. Participants given the list of synonyms had the worst recall. Learning two lists of words that have the same meaning would cause interference.
AO3 Point 3 - practical application
- revision practical app
-> Students should be made aware of this theory so that they do not attempt to revise similar content/subjects at the same time, as this will make interference more likely to occur.
AO3 Point 4 - Not a true explanation
When interference occurs the loss of information may only be temporary, therefore interference is not a true explanation for forgetting because the information is not actually over-written and is still in Long-Term Memory (LTM).
AO3 - Point 5 (other better explanations e.g. retrieval failure [Godden & Baddeley 1975])
Some psychologists argue that retrieval failure is a much better explanation of forgetting in everyday life than interference. Godden and Baddeley (1975) got divers to learn and recall word lists on either dry land or underwater. Results showed that words learnt and recalled in the same context were better remembered as there were retrieval cues in the environment to help them remember the words.
AO3 - Point 6 weaknesses of lab studies that support interference
-> lab studies use unrealistic material (normally lists of words), so the studies lack ecological validity which the causes problems in applying interference to everyday life.
-> in lab experiments the time period between learning lists of words and recalling them is much shorter than in real life. Therefore supporting research may lack validity and not reflect how we learn in real life. The role of interference as shown by lab studies may be exaggerated.
