Memory - Forgetting

Question 1

What are the two types of interference?

Answer 1

Retroactive and proactive

Question 2

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 2

Where new information interferes with the ability to recall older information.

Question 3

What is proactive interference?

Answer 3

When older information interferes with the ability to recall new information.

Question 4

Evaluation for interference theory?

Answer 4

(+) Retroactive and proactive interference are supported by many, many studies, most of which were highly controlled lab experiments.

(+) As well as this, the4re’s evidence for interference existing in real-world settings too, e.g. you might struggle to remember French vocab if you start learning German after.

(-) However, interference effects seem much greater in artificial lab settings than in real life, so it may not be as strong as a theory as once thought.

(-) The theory provides an explanation for why we forget, but it doesn’t go into the cognitive or biological processes involved — it doesn’t fully explain why or how interference happens.

Question 5

What can influence recall? How?

Answer 5

Cues.

We have more chance of retrieving the memory if the cue is appropriate.

Cues can be internal (e.g. your mood) or external (e.g. context, like surroundings, situation, etc). We remember more if we are in the same context / mood as we were in when we coded the information originally. This is known as cue-dependent learning.