memory - forgetting Flashcards
what is interference theory?
forgetting is due to interference - when a piece of information displaces another, causing it to be forgotten or distorted.
proposed for LTM - info still there as permanent, we just can’t access it.
proactive interference
old interferes with new
retroactive interference
new interferes with old
what is retrieval failure?
form of forgetting - occurs when we don’t have sufficient cues to access memory.
memory is available but not accessible until cue provided
when memory first stored in memory, had associated cues e.g. smell. if cues not available at time of recall, retrieval failure occurs
Experiment into context-dependent forgetting
Godden and Baddely
Deep sea divers learnt words underwater or on land, and asked to recall underwater on on land.
Accurate recall 40% lower in non-matching conditions
Experiment into state-dependent forgetting
Cassidy and Carter
List of words learnt on drugs that made participants sleepy, or not drugs. Recalled on drugs or not on drugs.
Significantly worse recall when in different conditions.
Evaluation of retrieval failure - recall vs recognition
- Baddely and Gooden replicated underwater test but used recognition test instead of recall. Found no context-dependent difference.
- Limitation of context effects as presence/absence of cues only effects memory when you test it in a certain way.
Evaluation of retrieval failure - sea vs land
Sea vs land is are very extreme environments to where we would usually have to recall something.
Limitation as not applicable to many real-life situations as not that extreme.
Evaluation of retrieval failure - interview
Context-related cues studies have real life application.
For example in cognitive police interviews, witnesses are taken back to place where incident took place to see if being back in environment where event occurred helps to trigger any memories.
Strength as research valuable in real-life situations.
Evaluation of interference theory - Schmidt
Schmidt researched into retroactive interference by asking people to name as many streets around their old school as possible.
Found a negative correlation between number of house moves someone had (meaning more street names they had to remember) and number of streets successfully named.
Supports interference theory as shows that new information interferes with ability to recall old information.
Evaluation of interference theory - labs
Studies that support interference theory tend to be lab based, where participants learn large amounts of insignificant information at a time, so interference is more likely.
What is the encoding specificity principle?
Memory cannot be recalled due to absence of cues encoded at the same time as memory.
