memory: theories of forgetting

Question 1

what is proactive interference?

Answer 1

Proactive is when previous information interferes with recent information.
In other words what you already know interferes with new material we are currently learning.

Question 2

what is retroactive interference?

Answer 2

Retroactive is when recent information interferes with previous information.
In other words, new current learning interferes with existing / old knowledge.

Question 3

Evaluation proactive and retroactive interference: research from underwood

Answer 3

One strength of retroactive and proactive interference as an explanation of forgetting is that there is lots of Research support for the idea that interference causes certain types of forgetting.
For example………
Underwood (1957) showed that the more nonsense syllable word lists his students had previously learnt, the greater their forgetting of new nonsense syllables was after 24hrs (proactive interference)

This illustrates how proactive and retroactive interference can clearly lead to memory loss.

Question 4

Evaluation proactive and retroactive interference: lacks credible support

Answer 4

However, one problem with retroactive and proactive interference theory is that much of the research evidence supporting the theory comes from artificial lab experiments into memory.
Memorising nonsense syllable/word lists/trigrams is not how we use our memory on a day-to-day basis and as such does not really reflect memory loss that we experience in real life situations

This implies proactive and retroactive interference lacks credible research support.

Question 5

Evaluation proactive and retroactive interference: face validity and real world application

Answer 5

Retroactive and proactive interference gains credibility however, from the fact that it is supported by our everyday experience.
Include your own example e.g. getting old and new postcodes or mobile phone numbers mixed up (important - try not to be repetitive - poick a difference one to the one you used earlier!)

This means that proactive and retroactive interference can be seen to have face valifity/ real world applications, as it appears we do mix up the cognitive connections of material in memory.

Question 6

Evaluation proactive and retroactive interference:reductionist

Answer 6

P: A further problem of interference theory is that it can be considered
Reductionist in that it fails to consider other valid explanations of forgetting.
E: For example: forgetting due to absence of cues. There is extensive research to support that forgetting arises as the cues are not available for recall that were present during encoding

L: This means interference offers an incomplete explanation of FORGETTING

Question 7

Evaluation proactive and retroactive interference:practical applications

Answer 7

It can help us explain (and prevent) forgetting of revision notes.
For example when revising similar material in subjects such as languages or sciences, it may be better to not revise them one after the other in a short timescale because this may cause interference in the material so it would be better to revise similar subjects with delays between learning to avoid this problem

Question 8

what are 3 types of cues?

Answer 8

context

state

organisational

Question 9

What are context cues?

Answer 9

These are cues from the environment that are “hoovered in” to the memory trace
Example - which room we are in when we learn the info, what the weather is like, smells around at the time of encoding etc

Question 10

What are organisational cues?

Answer 10

These are a special type of context cue that help us arrange and structure knowledge and materials.
Example - mnemonics to help us remember key info e.g. RATA or GRAVE or When Doing Psychology Do It Correctly

Question 11

What are state cues?

Answer 11

These are cues from within us that are “hoovered in” to the memory trace
Example - feeling hungry, emotional state, how tired we feel, being drunk etc

Question 12

What is context dependent forgetting?

Answer 12

This relates to EXTERNAL retrieval cues and occurs when the EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT (or CONTEXT) is different at RECALL to how it was during CODING.

For example…… If you revise for your exams in the garden, you may find it difficult to recall the information when you are sat in the exam hall as the contextual cues are not present.

Question 13

What is state-dependent forgetting?

Answer 13

This relates to INTERNAL retrieval cues and occurs when the INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT (or STATE) is different at RECALL to how it was during CODING.

For example…… If you eat 10 bags of Haribo whilst revising and are slightly wired from a sugar rush, you may find it difficult to recall the information when you are sat in the exam having had a nourishing bowl of porridge for breakfast.

Question 14

EVALUATE - RETRIEVAL FAILURE due to absence of CUES: research baker et al

Answer 14

Retrieval failure due to absence of cues theory has Research support as an explanation of forgetting.
For example……. Baker et al (2004) Placed students randomly into one of 4 groups in which they either chewed gum whilst learning a list of 15 words in 2 mins or did not. They were asked to recall the words immediately and again 24 hours later again whilst chewing gum or not.
After 24 hours, the average number of words recalled was :-
Gum/gum (learning + recall) = 11 Gum/no gum = 8 No gum/gum = 7 No gum/no gum – 8.5
Thus recall was best when CONTEXT cues present at time of encoding were present at the time of retrieval

This illustrates that cues are important for memory recall.

Question 15

EVALUATE - RETRIEVAL FAILURE due to absence of CUES: face validity

Answer 15

RETRIEVAL FAILURE DUE TO ABSENCE OF CUES can help explain everyday experiences of memory such as the ‘tip of the tongue’ experience. This is when we know something e.g. an answer to a quiz question but we just cannot “find it” to verbalise - this means the information is encoded but just not available without the right cue to recall it ie. the ‘state’ you were in when you learnt the information may not be the same as the ‘state ‘you are in when recalling it.

This means the retrieval failure due to absence of cues has some element of real-world application as an explanation of forgetting as it looks correct on the surface.

Question 16

EVALUATE - RETRIEVAL FAILURE due to absence of CUES: incomplete

Answer 16

However, RETRIEVAL FAILURE DUE TO ABSENCE OF CUES only appears to offer an explanation of some situations when people forget, not all.
It does not explain repression (a Freudian concept) where emotionally threatening events are banished into the unconscious mind, to prevent feelings of anxiety. This is known as ‘motivated forgetting’ although we are not consciously aware that this has happened

This implies that there are alternative explanations for forgetting and that this explanation alone cannot explain all incidences of forgetting.

Question 17

EVALUATE - RETRIEVAL FAILURE due to absence of CUES: applications

Answer 17

A final strength is that retrieval failure due to absence of cues has good practical application, as it can help us explain (and prevent) forgetting.
Context dependent forgetting helps to suggest useful ways of jogging people’s memory to try to solve crimes and is put to good effect in crime reconstructions as well as the cognitive interview (used by the police to interview eyewitnesses)

Hence, Retrieval Failure Due To Absence of Cues theory has been helpful to society at large.

Question 18

tulving encoding specificity principle