Memory - Forgetting

Question 2

What are the 2 theories for forgetting?

Answer 2

Retrieval failure

Interference theory

Question 3

What is the retrieval failure of forgetting theory?

Answer 3

schematic items are associated with target memories - aka memories have cues

cues enable us to remember by helping to retrieve schema

Retrieval failure occurs when cues are insufficient (encoding specificity principle)

Question 4

What is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 4

The greater the similarity between the encoding event and retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of retrieving the original memory

Question 5

What 2 factors affect how effective cues are?

Answer 5

context and state

Question 6

What was Goodwin’s procedure in his 1969 experiment on retrieval failure?

Answer 6

male volunteers given a list of words

IV(1) - ppts drunk at 3x the drink drive limit when learnt

IV(2) - ppts sober when learnt

24 hours later ppts were randomly assigned drunk or sober again

DV - number of words recalled correctly after 24 hours

Question 7

What were the findings of Goodwin’s 1969 experiment into retrieval failure?

Answer 7

Recall was significantly better in the original state (even if that state was drunk)

eg if the words were learnt when drunk, they were recalled better when drunk than sober

Question 8

What was the conclusion of Goodwin’s 1969 experiment into retrieval failure?

Answer 8

forgetting is dependent on state

Question 9

What are some applications of retrieval failure?

Answer 9

Healthcare -> memory boxes are used for people with dementia

Police -> eyewitness testimony eg revisting crime scenes to provide more cues for memories

Question 10

What are the drawbacks of retrieval failure?

Answer 10

causation issue - does recall improve cues or are cues needed for recall?

goodwin’s experiment lacks mundane realism - not how people learn in real life

Question 11

What is the interference theory of forgetting?

Answer 11

when one memory disturbs the ability to recall another

Question 12

What are the 2 types of intereference theory?

Answer 12

Proactive intereference

Retroactive intereference

Question 13

What is proactive intereference?

Answer 13

Previously learnt information interferes with the new information you are trying to store

Question 14

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 14

when a new memory interferes with old information

Question 15

What was the procedure of Underwood’s 1957 study into proactive intereference?

Answer 15

IV(1) - ppts learnt 10 word lists prior to experiment

IV(2) - ppts leant nothing prior

ppts then had to learn a new word list and recall as many as possible

DV - number of words successfully recalled

Question 16

What were the finding’s of Underwood’s 1957 study into proactive intereference?

Answer 16

recall was significantly worse when ppts had learnt words beforehand as they interfered with the new memories

Question 17

What was the procedure of Baddeley and Hitch’s 1977 experiment into retroactive intereference?

Answer 17

IV(1) - players injured early into the season

IV(2) - players played the whole season

players had to recall number of opponent team names from the season

DV - number of correct team names recalledq

Question 18

What were the findings of Baddeley and Hitch’s 1977 experiment into retroactive interference?

Answer 18

recall significantly worse when players completed the season

Question 19

What are some real world applications of interference theory?

Answer 19

ecological validity in TV advert blocks - better to have a variety of products than lots of similar ones

economic validity too