Lesson 8 - Forgetting - interference Flashcards
What is forgetting?
Term used to refer a persons loss of ability to recall or recognise something that they have once previously learned.
What is interference theory?
Interference theory claims that forgetting occurs when two lots of information become confused in memory. It is more likely to occur when the two pieces of information are similar to each other. Interference is less likely to occur if there is a gap between learning.
What are the two types of interference
Retroactive - When new learning affects the recall of old information
Proactive - When old learning affect the recall of new information
Evaluation Interface underwood
Underwood investigated retroactive interference. He found that participants who learned 10 lists of words could only recall 20% of words from the first list the next day. Participants who leaned one list of words recalled over 70% the next day
Evaluation Mcgeoch and McDonald
Demonstrated retroactive interference. They gave participants lists of words to be learned to 100 accuracy. Participants then learned a new list of either synonyms or antonyms. Participants where then asked to recall the original list. Participants given the synonym list had the worst recall. Learning two lists of words with the same meaning would cause interference
Evaluation - practical applications
This theory has practical applications Students should be made aware of this theory so that they do not attempt to revise similar content at the same time as interference would more likely to happen
Evaluation - temporary
When interference occurs, the loss of info is only temporary, therefore it is not a true explanation for forgetting as the info has not been over written and is still in the LTM
Evaluation - other theory
Some psychologists argue that retrieval failure is much better explanation for forgetting than interference. This theory states that we forget when there are not enough retrieval cues to help us remember: Godden and Baddeley diver…
