Memory- explanations of forgetting

Question 1

What is interference theory

Answer 1

As new information is learnt the cognitive connections can get confused especially if the information is similar to old information that we already have.

Question 2

Is interference new or old info

Answer 2

New

Question 3

What is proactive interference

Answer 3

When previous information interferes with recent information.

Question 4

What is retroactive interference

Answer 4

Retroactive is when recent information interferes with previous information.

Question 5

Evaluation, evidence
Underwood
retro and pro

Answer 5

P- There is evidence to support the proactive and retroactive theory of forgetting explanation

E- Underwood (1957) showed that the more nonsense syllable word lists his students had previously learnt, the greater their forgetting of new nonsense syllables was after 24hrs (proactive interference)

L- Shows how proactive and retroactive interference can easily lead to memory loss

Question 6

Evaluation, issue with evidence
retro and pro

Answer 6

P- Much research is lab

E- Memorising nonsense syllable/word lists/trigrams is not how we use our memory on a day-to-day basis and as such does not really reflect memory loss that we experience in real life situations

L- Lacks credible research support

Question 7

Evaluation, high face validity
retro and pro

Answer 7

P- Supported by everyday experiences

E- Include your own example e.g. getting old and new postcodes or mobile phone numbers mixed up (important - try not to be repetitive - poick a difference one to the one you used earlier!)

L- high in face validity

Question 8

Evaluation, pratical application
retro and pro

Answer 8

P- Practical application

E- It can help us explain (and prevent) forgetting of revision notes.
For example when revising similar material in subjects such as languages or sciences, it may be better to not revise them one after the other in a short timescale because this may cause interference in the material so it would be better to revise similar subjects with delays between learning to avoid this problem.

L- This suggests that the explanations are useful for everyday life

Question 9

Evaluation, better alternatives
retro and pro

Answer 9

P- Can be considered reductionist as it ignores other explanation

E- E.g forgetting due to absence of cues. There is extensive research to support that forgetting arsises as the cues are not available for recall that were present during encoding

L- Incomplete explanation

Question 10

Who proposed cue dependent forgetting

Answer 10

Tulving

Question 11

What are cues

Answer 11

Additional pieces of information that guide us to the information we are looking for, like the contents page of the book

Question 12

What does cue dependent forgetting suggest

Answer 12

Forgetting takes place when we try and retrieve info from our LTM although the info is there, it’s difficult to access it because of an absence of appropriate cues

Question 13

What are state cues

Answer 13

Cues from within us that are “hoovered in” to the memory trace
Example - feeling hungry, emotional state, how tired we feel, being drunk etc

Question 14

What are context cues

Answer 14

Cues from the environment that are “hoovered in” to the memory trace
Example - which room we are in when we learn the info, what the weather is like, smells around at the time of encoding etc

Question 15

What are organisational cues

Answer 15

A special type of context cue that help us arrange and structure knowledge and materials.
Example - mnemonics to help us remember key info e.g. RATA or GRAVE or When Doing Psychology Do It Correctly

Question 16

What is context dependent forgetting

Answer 16

This relates to external retrieval cues and occurs when the external environmental (or context) is different at recall to how it was during coding.

Question 17

What is state dependent forgetting

Answer 17

This relates to internal retrieval cues and occurs when the internal environment (or state) is different at recall to how it was during coding.

Question 18

Evaluation, evidence
Baker
absence of cues

Answer 18

P- research to support

E- Baker et al (2004) Placed students randomly into one of 4 groups in which they either chewed gum whilst learning a list of 15 words in 2 mins or did not. They were asked to recall the words immediately and again 24 hours later again whilst chewing gum or not.
After 24 hours, the average number of words recalled was :-
Gum/gum (learning + recall) = 11 Gum/no gum = 8 No gum/gum = 7 No gum/no gum – 8.5
Thus recall was best when CONTEXT cues present at time of encoding were present at the time of retrieval

L- Illustrates cues are important for memory recall

Question 19

Evaluation, face validity
absence of cues

Answer 19

P- Can help to explain everyday experiences

E- This is when we know something e.g. an answer to a quiz question but we just cannot “find it” to verbalise - this means the information is encoded but just not available without the right cue to recall it ie. the ‘state’ you were in when you learnt the information may not be the same as the ‘state ‘you are in when recalling it.

L- Has some element of face validity

Question 20

Evaluation, practical applications
absence of cues

Answer 20

P- Good practical applications

E- Context dependent forgetting helps to suggest useful ways of jogging people’s memory to try to solve crimes and is put to good effect in crime reconstructions as well as the cognitive interview (used by the police to interview eye witnesses)

L- Helpful to society

Question 21

Evaluation, incomplete explanation
absence of cues

Answer 21

P- Only appears to offer an explanation of some situations when people forget

E- It does not explain repression where emotionally threatening events are banished into the unconscious mind, to prevent feelings of anxiety. This is known as ‘motivated forgetting’ although we are not consciously aware that this has happened

L- This implies that there are alt explanations for forgetting and that this explanation alone cannot explain all incidences of forgetting.

Question 22

What is the encoding specificity principle

Answer 22

The greater the dissimilarity between the encoding event and retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of forgetting an original memory.