Interference Flashcards
1
Q
What is the Interference theory?
A
- Interference is when you forget because one memory blocks another, which causes one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten.
- Interference is an explanation for forgetting in LTM
- Information is permanently stored in LTM, so if we can not remember it, it is likely due to being unable to access it
2
Q
What are the types of interfernce?
A
- Proactive interference - forgetting occurs when older memories disrupt the recall of newer memories
- Retroactive interference - forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories
- The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar
3
Q
What study was conducted to explore the effects of similarity on interference?
A
- McGeoch & McDonald (1939) - aimed to investigate the effect of retroactive interference.
- Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy.
-They then learned a new list of words; there were 6 different types of new lists compared to the original list - Group 1 = Synonyms
- Group 2 = Antonyms
- Group 3 = Unrelated
- Group 4 = Consonant syllables
- Group 5 = 3 digit numbers
- Group 6 = control group (no new list - participants rested)
-When asked to recall the original list of words, group 1 performed the worst recall, which shows that interference is strongest when the memories are similar.
4
Q
(AO3) What is a strength of interference?
A
Support from Drug Studies:
- Coenen & Van Luijetaar (1997) - gave participants a list of words and later asked them to recall the list, assuming intervening events would interfere.
- They found that when a list of words was learned under the influence of diazepam, the recall was better.
- This finding shows that forgetting can be due to interference and by removing that interference, recall improves.
5
Q
(AO3) What is a weakness of interference?
(1)
A
Interference is unusual:
- The conditions necessary for interference to occur are relatively rare.
- This is unlike lab studies where the high degree of control means a researcher can create ideal conditions for inference.
- This suggests that most forgetting may be better explained by other theories, such as retrieval failure, due to a lack of cues.
6
Q
(AO3) What is a weakness of interference?
(2)
A
Interference is temporary and can be overcome with cues:
- Tulving & Psotka (1971) - gave participants lists of words and concluded that recall averaged about 70% for the first list, but became worse as participants learned each additional list.
- At the end of the procedure, the participants were told the names of the categories that the lists were sorted into, in which recall rose again to 70%.
- This shows that interference causes a temporary loss of memory accessibility to material that is still in the LTM, which is not predicted by the interference theory.