memory 1.4 Flashcards
Explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive interference and retrieval failure due to absence of cues.
interference
interference occurs when the recall of one memory blocks the recall of another, causing forgetting or distorted perceptions of these memories
proactive interference
previously learnt info interferes with the new info your are trying to store
old interfering with new
e.g. difficulty learning names of people in your maths class this year because you keep remembering names of people in your psychology class last year
retroactive interference
a new memory interferes with older memories
new interfering with old
e.g. difficulty remembering names of people who were in your psychology class this year because you keep remembering names of people in your maths class this year
who researched into retroactive interference?
Underwood and Postman
what was Underwood and Postman’s aim?
to find out if new learning interferes with previous learning
what was Underwood and Postman’s procedure?
participants were divided into two groups
group A were asked to learn a list of word pairs e.g. dog-cat and then asked to learn another list where the second word is different e.g. dog-tree
group B were asked to learn the first list of word pairs only
both groups were then asked to recall the first list of word pairs
what were Underwood and Postman’s results?
group B’s recall of the first list was more accurate than group A’s recall of the list
what was Underwood and Postman’s conclusion?
this suggests that learning items in the second list interfered with participants ability to recall the list
this is an example of retroactive interference
explain how lab experiments support the concept of interference as an explanation for forgetting
interference has been consistently demonstrated in several studies, but particularly in lab experiments
this increases the validity of the theory due to the use of highly controlled conditions in lab experiments, standardised instructions alongside the removal of biasing effects of extraneous and confounding variables
explain how Baddeley and Hitch’s experiment supports the concept of interference as an explanation for forgetting
Baddeley and Hitch found that in a group of rugby players who had to recall their last game and the number of games they’d played that season (which would be different from each player),the number of games they’d played since was more important than the total time they’d been playing for
this can be explained in terms of interference, where the more games each player had played, the more likely the memories of these newer games would interfere or block the recall of older games
i.e. retroactive interference
explain how the artificial stimuli used in interference research is a weakness of the concept of interference being used as an explanation for forgetting
the artificial stimuli used in these tasks, such as learning lists of random words with no personal
meaning to the participants, means that the findings of interference studies are likely to have low mundane realism
this is because in real life, we are likely to learn lists of meaningful information, such as revision topics for psychology, which we draw links upon and also which have personal meaning to
us
these factors may also influence the extent of forgetting, rather than influence.
explain how the studies being conducted in a short space of time is a weakness of interference being used as an explanation for forgetting
a second methodological criticism of interference studies, further suggesting that they lack
mundane realism and reliability, is that they are often conducted in very short spaces of time with
participants recalling their words 1 or 2 hours after they have learnt them
this does not reflect the
normal passage of time in everyday life, where we often find that several days pass until we need to
recall such information e.g. in the case of an exam.
therefore, this suggests that interference is
unlikely to be a valid explanation for forgetting from the ltm
the two types of cues
cues which are linked meaningfully to the information to be remembered
cues which are not linked meaningfully to the information to be remembered
what happens when we learn information?
we also encode the context (external cues in which we learn the information)
two types of forgetting
context dependent forgetting
state dependent forgetting
context dependent forgetting
when the environment during recall is different from the environment you were in when you were learning
internal cues
the mental state we are in
external cues
the context we learn the information in
state dependent forgetting
occurs when your mood or physiological state is during recall is different from the mood you were in when you were learning
what happens when the cues aren’t present?
retrieval failure
retrieval failure forgetting
this is when we cannot access the memory until the correct retrieval cue is used
it suggests that forgetting occurs when the cues present at the time of encoding the information are not present at the time of recall
what does retrieval failure forgetting describe?
Tulving’s Encoding Specificity Principle
Tulving’s Encoding Specificity Principle
“the greater the similarity between the encoding event and the retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of recalling the original memory”
who researched into context dependent forgetting?
Godden and Baddeley
what was Godden and Baddeley’s aim?
to investigate the effect of the environment on recall
what was Godden and Baddeley’s procedure?
18 divers from diving club in Scotland were asked to learn lists of 36 unrelated words of 2 or 3 syllables
the experiment used a repeated measures design (each participant took part in all four conditions, over four separate days)
there were 4 conditions:
learn on beach - recall on beach
learn on beach - recall underwater
learn underwater - recall underwater
learn underwater - recall on beach
what were Godden and Baddeley’s results?
number of items recalled:
condition 1 - 13.6
condition 2 - 8.6
condition 3 - 8.5
condition 4 - 11.4
what was Godden and Baddeley’s conclusion?
results show that context acted as a cue to recall as participants recalled more words in the same environment than when learnt and recalled in different environments
who researched into state-dependent forgetting?
Carter & Cassaday (1998)
what was Carter & Cassaday (1998)’s aim?
the researchers aimed to investigate recall using anti‐histamine drugs i.e. would the sedative (sleepy) effect of the drug be needed for retrieval?
researched into state - dependent forgetting
what was Carter & Cassaday (1998)’s procedure?
participants learnt a list of words from a text and then recalled the information at a later point
there were four conditions:
1) learning + anti‐histamine/recall + anti‐histamine
2) learning without anti‐histamine/recalling without anti‐histamine
3) learning + anti‐histamine/recalling without anti‐histamine
4) learning without anti‐histamine/recall + anti‐histamine
what were Carter & Cassaday (1998)’s results?
the results showed that memory was better when learning and recall state matched (e.g. learning/recalling + anti-histamine)
forgetting occurred more when the states did not match (e.g. learning + anti-histamine/recalling without)
what was Carter & Cassaday (1998)’s conclusion?
if the physical/psychological/emotional state someone is in when they learn information is replicated then memory is likely to be better than when the states differ
explain how the use of lab experiments supports the concepts of context and state dependent forgetting as explanations of retrieval failure
lab experiments have standardised procedures which means the research into this field is likely to be reliable as it can be easily replicated
explain how cue dependent and state dependent forgetting being applied to real life to support the concepts being used as explanations for retrieval failure
the theory has good application to school settings
e.g. students should sit exams in the same room in which the material was learnt to optimise recall of information
this increases the ability of cue and state dependent forgetting being used to explain our memory since it is useful in everyday situations
however, more often then not exams are not sat in the same room due to convenience so the application isn’t as useful
explain how extraneous variables are a weakness of context and state dependent forgetting
the diver participants in Godden & Baddeley’s study were exposed to a whole host of cues (e.g. being on a boat, surrounded by other divers, hearing the sounds of the sea, the engine etc.) which means that their findings cannot be said to be a true reflection of the IV’s effect on the DV
there are extraneous variables which decreases the internal validity of the study as it is hard to establish a cause and effect relationship between variables
this decreases the credibility of context and state dependent forgetting due to being partly based on research with low internal validity
explain how ethical issues don’t support context dependent forgetting and state dependent forgetting as explanations for retrieval failure
there are ethical issues with both studies: diving is a risky sport and people can have adverse reactions to anti-histamine drugs (both of which dangers may have only become apparent during the procedure of each study)
this means that the participants weren’t entirely protected from harm and could have been faced with problems
however, this could have been solved with debriefing
