Interference theory Flashcards
What are the two types of interference?
Proactive and retroactive
What is proactive interference?
When older memories disrupt newer ones e.g. remembering your old post code instead of your new one after moving house
What is retroactive interference?
Newer memories disrupting old ones e.g. meeting and old friend and calling them the name of your new friends
What are 2 pieces of research support for interference?
Baddeley & Hitch and Tulving and Psotka
What was Baddeley’s and Hitch’s procedure?
They interviewed rugby players and asked them to recall the names of the teams they had played against during a season. They all played over one season but no. of games varied due to some missing games due to injury
What were Baddeley’s and hitch’s findings and conclusions?
Players who played the most games (more chances of interference) had the poorest recall
What was Tulving and Psotka’s procedure?
Participants were given a list of words organised into categories, one list at a time, but they weren’t told the categories and their recall was tested immediately after being exposed to the list.
What were Tulving and Psotka’s findings and conclusions .
Recall averaged at about 79% for the first least but became worst as participants learned each additional list, demonstrating interference from words from the earlier lists.However, at the end, participants were given the names of categories and recall rose to about 70% for each list, showing interference is only temporary and the use of cues overcomes this.
What are strengths of this theory?
Research evidence and lab studies control the effect of irrelevant influences so interference in valid and cues increase recall and interference is only temporary.
What are limitations of this theory?
Validity issues
What are the validity issues with this theory?
Most studies are lab based so variables can be controlled which shows a clear link between interference and forgetting but these studies use artificial materials and unrealistic procedures - internal and external validity
