interference theory

Question 1

What is interference in the context of memory?

Answer 1

Forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten.

Question 2

What is proactive interference?

Answer 2

Forgetting occurs when older memories, already stored, disrupt the recall of newer memories. The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar.

Question 3

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 3

Forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories, already stored. The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar.

Question 4

What does interference theory explain?

Answer 4

Interference theory explains that forgetting in long-term memory occurs when information that is similar in format gets in the way of the information that someone is trying to recall.

Question 5

What is an example of proactive interference?

Answer 5

An example would be calling your current boyfriend/girlfriend by the name of your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend. The newer information is therefore ‘forgotten’.

Question 6

What is an example of retroactive interference?

Answer 6

An example would be not being able to remember your old postcode because all you can think about is your new postcode. The older information is therefore ‘forgotten’.

Question 7

What was the aim of McGeoch and McDonald’s (1931) study?

Answer 7

To investigate whether the similarity of memories influences recall.

Question 8

What procedure did participants follow in McGeoch and McDonald’s study?

Answer 8

Participants learned a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy, then learned another list of words.

Question 9

What were the different groups in McGeoch and McDonald’s study?

Answer 9

Group 1 = synonyms, Group 2 = antonyms, Group 3 = unrelated words, Group 4 = non-sense syllables, Group 5 = 3-digit numbers, Group 6 = no new list.

Question 10

What was the conclusion of McGeoch and McDonald’s study?

Answer 10

Recall of the original list was dependent on the nature of the second list; the most similar material produced the worst recall.

Question 11

What does the study by Schmidt et al. (2000) support?

Answer 11

It supports the evidence for retroactive interference in memory recall.

Question 12

What was the method used by Schmidt et al. (2000)?

Answer 12

Participants recalled street names from childhood after being given a map with street names replaced by numbers.

Question 13

What was the finding of Schmidt et al. (2000)?

Answer 13

There was a positive association between the number of times individuals had moved and the number of street names forgotten.

Question 14

What did Baddeley and Hitch (1977) investigate?

Answer 14

They investigated whether interference was a better explanation for forgetting than the passage of time.

Question 15

What was the finding of Baddeley and Hitch (1977)?

Answer 15

Forgetting was due to the number of games played, rather than how much time had passed between games.

Question 16

What conclusion did Baddeley and Hitch (1977) reach?

Answer 16

They concluded that forgetting was a result of retroactive interference, as new information interfered with old information.

Question 17

What role does sleep play in memory?

Answer 17

Sleep helps to strengthen memories and make them less vulnerable to interference.

Question 18

What did Abel and Baum (2013) find regarding sleep and interference?

Answer 18

They found that 12 hours of sleep reduced both proactive and retroactive interference compared to a control group who remained awake for 12 hours.

Question 19

What practical application can be derived from the findings on sleep and memory?

Answer 19

Students could be encouraged to get enough sleep to aid recall of information.

Question 20

How can interference effects be overcome?

Answer 20

Interference effects may be overcome by using cues.

Question 21

What did Tulving and Psotka (1971) demonstrate about category cues?

Answer 21

They showed that when participants were told the names of categories, recall rose again to about 70% after experiencing interference.

Question 22

What limitation does interference theory have?

Answer 22

Interference theory cannot explain all examples of forgetting, as it is too simplistic to account for complex phenomena.

Question 23

What is a limitation of research into interference?

Answer 23

Research tends to be in lab conditions based on artificial tasks, limiting external validity.

Question 24

How are interference studies typically designed?

Answer 24

They are designed to cause the maximum amount of interference and thus forgetting, such as learning one list of words and then a second list shortly after.