Memory: Interference Flashcards
What does interference theory state?
forgetting occurs because memories disrupt one another
Who suggested the interference theory?
Baddeley
What are the two types of interference?
Retroactive and Proactive
What is retroactive interference?
recent information hinders the recall of older information
What is proactive interference?
past information hinders the recall of recent information
What did McGeoch and Mcdonald study?
retroactive influence
How did McGeoach and Mcdonald study retroactive interference?
-list of 10 words learnt until 100% accuracy -divided into 6 groups and given new word list
-groups: synonyms, antonyms, unrelated words, consonant syllables, three digit numbers, no new list
What did McGeoch and Mcdonald find?
12% of accuracy with synonyms (worst recall)
What did McGeoch and Mcdonald conclude from their study into interference?
interference is strongest when the memories/information is similar to one another
What are retrieval cues?
information about the situation which allow improved recall
What is retrieval failure?
information in LTM cannot be accessed due to absence of retrieval cues
In terms of interference, what did Tulving argue?
referred to encoding specific principle which states memory is significantly improved when information at encoding is also available at retrieval
How did Tulving and Pearlston explore meaningful cues?
-used lists of words -recall lists in different conditions -condition one: given category names of words -condition two: given no category names for words
What did Tulving and Pearlston show?
without category names of words recall was significantly worse and therefore recognises importance of meaningful cues
How did Aggelton and Waskett explore the importance of meaningful cues?
-visited underground museum -recreated 1000 year old Viking ruins (smells)
What did Aggelton and Waskett find?
even after several years participants could recall details of trip by recreating the smells
Which psychologists explored context dependent forgetting?
Godden and Baddeley
How did Godden and Baddeley investigate context dependent forgetting?
-divers had to learn lists of words -4 conditions: learn on land/ recall on land, learn on land/recall in water, learn in water/ recall on land, learn in water/ recall in water
What did Godden and Baddeley conclude from their research into context dependent forgetting?
poor recall accuracy in non-matching conditions. external cues at learning different to cues at recall and therefore retrieval failure occurs
Which psychologist studied the effect on state dependent forgetting?
Carter and Cassaday
How did Carter and Cassaday study state dependent forgetting?
-learn lists of words and passages -gave participants mild sedative antihistamine
-4 conditions: learn on antihistamine/ recall without, learn with/recall with, learn without/recall without, learn without/ recall with
What were Carter and Cassadays findings?
recall performance significantly worse in non-matching conditions
