Interference^ Flashcards
Proactive
old memories replace new
Retroactive
new memories replace old
What is Interference?
two piece of info disturbing each other
- cause forgetting of one or both memories
for LTM’s forgetting mostly
LTM’s Forgetting
accessibility
- memories are present but can’t be accessed (defence mechanism)
availability
- memories were never there
Research on Effects of Similarity
McGeoch & McDonald
- learn two list of words
- interference mostly happen when words are similar (synonyms)
Primary Info
first part of info
Recency
most recent/ last piece of info
Real World Application
evidence
Baddeley & Hitch
- tested rugby player’s memory
- played the most games = the worse recall
interference occurs due to more info interfering with memory
valid explanation
VS Real World Applications
conditions for interference to emerge occurs rarely in life
differs from lab studies
- easy to create conditions
findings cant be applied to everyday life
lacks ecological validity/ mundane realism
Interference & Cues
interference can be overcome with cues
Tulving & Psotka
- recall two lists
- second without cues was worse than with (70%)
interference effects are strong, if there is no cues
interference is a partial explanations, consider cues
Support from Drug Studies
retrograde facilitation
- memory enchancement after drugs
Coenen & van Luijtelar
- participants able to recall while on diazepam
- compare to control group
Wixted
- drug prevented new info to reach the brain and interfere
proves forgetting is due to interference
Validity Issues
highly controlled settings insures there is a direct relations between interference and forgetting
McGeoch & McDonald
- good, but artificial materials
- dont fully reflect life
- lack mundane settings/ external validity
findings are not generalisable
