Interference Flashcards
How does interference happen?
Two pieces of information conflict with each other, resulting in forgetting one or both, or in some distortion of memory. Interference between memories makes it harder for us to locate them, and this is experienced as ‘forgetting’
What is proactive interference?
Older memories interfere with new memories
What is retroactive interference?
New memories interfere with old memories
What is an example of proactive interference?
Your teacher has learned so many names in the past that she struggled to remember names of her current class
What’s an example of retroactive interference?
Your teacher has learned so many new names this year that she has difficulty remembering the names of the students last year
Who showed that interference is worse when memories/learning are similar?
McGeoch and McDonald (1931)
How did McGeoch and McDonald investigate retroactive interference?
They changed the amount of similarity between two sets of materials. 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 groups of participants who has to learn different types of lists.
What were the 6 different groups in McGeoch and McDonald’s study?
Synonyms, antonyms, words unrelated to original ones, consonant syllables, three digit numbers and no new list (just re tested)
What did McGeoch and McDonald find?
They found that recall was worse when participants learned a second list of synonyms, which were the most similar material. This shows that interference is strongest when the memories are similar.
What 4 evaluations are there for interference?
Artificial materials, evidence from lab studies, real life studies and time in between learning.
