Memory - Explanations for forgetting Flashcards
What are the 2 explanations for forgetting?
- Interference theory
- Retrieval failure
What is interference?
When 2 lots of info become confused in memory
What are the 2 types of interference?
- Proactive interference
- Retroactive interference
Proactive interference
Where old learning affects recall of new info
Retroactive interference
Where new learning affects recall of old info
When is interference most likely to occur?
When 2 pieces of info are similar
Who researched proactive interference?
What did they do?
What did they find?
Greenberg + Underwood (1950)
Asked ppts to learn 10 paired word list
The gave ppts 48 hours to recall - this was repeated 4 times
Number of correctly recalled word pairs decreased the more word pairs had been learnt previously
Who researched retroactive interference?
What did he do?
What did he find?
Schmidt et al (2000)
11-79 year olds sent a questionnaire containing a map of the areas around their old school WITHOUT street names
The more times an individual had moved home, the fewer street names recalled
What types of retrieval failure are there?
Cue and state dependant
What is retrieval failure?
Not being able to access memories that are available
Who researched context dependant forgetting?
What did they do?
WHat did they find?
Baddely + Godden (1975)
18 ppts from a uni diving club - divided into 4 conditions:
1. learning words on land, recalling on land
2. learning words on land, recalling underwater
3. learning words underwater, recalling on land
4. learning words underwater, recalling underwater
Used a repeated measures design (each ppt took part in all 4 conditions over 4 separate days)
Words learned underwater better recalled underwater and same for land
Context is key for retrieval to happen
