Memory : Interference Flashcards
What do psychologists believe about LTM?
LTM memories aren’t always remembered and psychologists believe once info as reached the LTM it’s permanent but problems occur with accessing the info
What’s interference?
When 2 pieces of info conflict with each other, resulting in forgetting one of both pieces, or a distortion of memory
What’re the two types of interference?
Retroactive and Proactive
What’s retroactive interference?
RI happens when a newer memory interferes with an old memory E.g. a teacher has so many new names this year, they can’t remember the names from last year
What’s proactive interference?
PI happens when an older memory interferes with a newer one E.g. a teacher has learnt so many names over the years, they can’t remember this years
McGeoch + McDonald (1931) : Aim
To see if interference occurred more proactively or retroactively
McGeoch + McDonald (1931) : Method
Amount of similarity between two sets of materials which Ps had to recall. Ps has to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember it with 100% accuracy (list A). They then learn a new list of 6 words (list B), which varied in similarity to list A
1. Synonyms - same meaning
2. Antonyms - opposite meaning
3. Unrelated works
4. Consonant syllables
5. 3 digit numbers
6. No list (no interference or recall)
McGeoch + McDonald (1931) : Findings
Synonyms - 12% accurate recall
Syllables - 26% accurate recall
Numbers - 37% accurate recall
McGeoch + McDonald (1931) : Conclusion
Shows that interference is strongest the more similar the words (supports retroactive)
McGeoch + McDonald (1931) : Advs
• Findings are reliable + ecologically valid : Baddeley + Hitch (1977) asked rugby players to recall names of teams they’d played that reason, week by week. Some missed games so the last game they played differed in time. Accurate recall wasn’t effected by how long ago the match was but the number of games they’d played in the middle. This is the opposite of what the decay theory would predict an is better explained by interference theory. Players who played more games forgot more because of interference
McGeoch + McDonald (1931) : Disadvs
• conducted in lab conditions so lacks ecological validity
• lacks mundane realism (different to how memory works in the real world)
• doesn’t consider individual differences : Kane + Engle (2000) demonstrated individuals with greater WM spans were less susceptible to interference. They gave Ps 3 word lists to learn and those with lower spans showed greater proactive interference when recalling the 2nd and 3rd lists bc higher spans, suggesting people aren’t equally affected by proactive interference and effects depend on the individual
• appears to be in a temporary effect and not long term with the use of cues : Tulving + Psotka (1971) gave Ps one list of words at a time and were unaware they had been organised into categories. Recall averages around 70% of the first list and them became worse with each one. Ps were asked to recall at the end but with the names of the categories and re case rose to 70% - supporting theory that info isn’t lost from LTM are just accessibility problems
What’s the effect of similarity?
Because of proactive interference as previously stored info makes it harder to store new info or because of retroactive interference where new information writes over old
Keppel + Underwood (1962) - Aim
To investigate the effect of proactive inference on LTM
Keppel + Underwood (1962) - Method
Primary task - recall trigrams with a 3-9 sec delay
Secondary task - count backwards in 3s (prevents subvocal rehearsal)
Keppel + Underwood (1962) - Findings
Ps remembered the trigrams that were presented first (no matter interval length) bc the secondary task caused proactive inference of the trigrams that we presented after
