Memory - forgetting : interference Flashcards
What do psychologists believe about LTM?
Long-term memories aren’t always remembered and forgetting can occur for a variety of reasons
What is interference (context of memory) ?
When 2 pieces of information conflict with each other and can result in forgetting one piece of info, forgetting both pieces of info, or distortion of memory
What is retroactive interference?
When a newer memory interferes with an old one
Give an example of a retroactive interference?
A teacher has leanrt so many names this year that they struggle to remember their students’ names from last year
What is proactive interference?
When an older memory interferes with a newer one
Give an example of proactive interference
A teacher has learnt so many names in the past that they struggle to remember their new students’ names
What was the procedure for McGeoch and McDonald (1931)?
Ppts. had to learn a list of words until they could recall it with 100% accuracy. Ppts. then learnt a new list (synonyms, antonyms, unrelated words, consonant syllables, 3 digit numbers or no list) and then recall the original list
State the results for McGeoch and McDonald (1931)
If they were given a synonym list, ppts. recall of the original list was worse : only 12% accuracy
What is the effect of similarity?
Interference is strongest when the words/memories are more similar to each other
What are the explanations for the effects of time?
Effects of interference are generally stronger when the time between learning the old and new memories is shorter
What is a limitation of using interference as an explanation of forgetting? - Much of the research is conducted in lab settings
===> Lots of studies involve ppts. learning pointless lists (McGeoch and McDonald’s (1931) study) and typically learnt in short timeframe. Increases likelihood of experiencing interference effects and deviates from real-life scenarios. Lacks mundane realism and might not be generalisable (remembering and recalling personally significant memories may require different cognitive processes)
What is a strength of using interference as an explanation of forgetting? - Research in real-life settings has yielded similar results
===> Baddeley and Hitch (1977) rugby player study. Had to recall names of teams they had played against in a season, week by week. Accurate recall not influenced by how long ago the match occurred, but by number of games played in the meantime. Contradicts predictions of decay theory and aligns more with interference theory as players involved in more games experienced greater interference and forgetting. Study shows it is applicable to real-life
What is a limitation of using interference as an explanation of forgetting? - Failure to consider individual differences
===> Kane and Engle (2000) study showed ppts. with higher working memory spans less prone to interference. Ppts. had to learn 3-word lists and those with lower WM spans experienced greater difficulty when recalling second and third lists (proactive interference). People aren’t uniformly affected so individual context has to be considered when applying theory of interference
What is a limitation of using interference as an explanation of forgetting? - Effects seem to be temporary rather than long-term
===> Tulving and Psotka (1971) gave ppts. multiple word lists (unaware they were organised into categories). Recall performance steadily decreased with every list, averaging at 70% accurate recall for the first. Later asked to recall words with the names of categories as retrieval cues, performance rose back to around 70%. Supports idea that info isn’t permanently lost from LTM due to interference but accessibility to info may be affected - retrieval cues can help overcome interference effects
