Memory - interference (explanations for forgetting) Flashcards
What is interference?
When two pieces of information disrupt each other
Where does forgetting occur, and why?
In the LTM because we can’t access memories even though they are avaliable
What are the two types of interference?
Proactive and retroactive
What is proactive interference?
Older memory disrupts a newer one
What is retroactive interference?
Newer memory disrupts a older one
What was the study called that was carried out and who did it?
McGeoch and Mcdonald - Effects of similarity
What was the procedure of the Effects of similarity study?
Participants were asked to learn a list of words to 100% accuracy
Then given a new list to learn, new material varied in degree which was similar to the old
- 6 groups of words
What were the findings and conclusions of the Effects of similarity study?
Performance depended on the nature of the second list. Themost similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall
This shows that interference is strongest when the memories are similar
What are the two strengths of the study?
Support for interference in real world situations
Support from durg studies
One strength is support for interference in real world situations….
- 2 names
Baddely and Hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of teams they had played against during a rugby season
Players did not play the same number of games (injuries).Those who played most (more interference) had poorest recall
This shows that interference operates in some everyday situations, increasing the validity of the theory
Counterpoint - Interference in everyday situations is unsual because…
the necessary conditions are relatively rare e.g similarity of memories/learning does not occur often
Therefore most everyday day forgetting may be better explained by other theories e.g retrieval failure due to lack of cues
Another strength is support from drug studies…
Material learned just before taking diazepam recalled better than a placebo group one week later - this is retrograde facilitation
The drug stopped new information reaching brain areas that process memories, so it could not retroactively interference with stored information
This shows that the forgetting is due to interference - reducing the intereference reduced the forgetting
What is a limitation of the study?
Interference effects may be overcome using cues
One limitation is that interference may be overcome using cues..
Tulving and Psotka gave participants lists of words organised into catagories (not told what they were)
Recall of first list was 70% but fell with each new list (proactive interference). When given a cued recall test recall rose again to 70%
This shows that interference causes just a temporary loss of access to material still in LTM - not predicted by theory
