Theories of forgetting

Question 1

Interference - Define interference

Answer 1

When two pieces of information conflict

Question 2

Interference- What is proactive interference?

Answer 2

When an old memory interfers with a new one

Question 3

Interference- What is retroactive interference?

Answer 3

When a new memory interfers with an old one

Question 4

Fill the missing word- ‘Interference is worse when memories are _____’

Answer 4

Similar

Question 5

Give 2 reasons why interference is worse when memories are similar

Answer 5

• in proactive interference, previously stored info makes new info hard to store
• in retroactive interference, the new info overwrites previous, similar memories

Question 6

Who carried out the research into interference forgetting?

Answer 6

McGeoth and McDonald

Question 7

Explain the procedure of the study?

Answer 7

Participants were given a list of words to learn to 100% accuracy.
Then they were all split up into 6 different groups, they were all given a separate list of words to learn.
1) synonyms 
2) antonyms 
3) unrelated
4) consonant syllables 
5) 3 digit numbers 
6) control group- no new list

Question 8

What were the findings of the study?

Answer 8

Performance was dependant on the nature of the second list. the SIMILAR material, synonyms, produced the WORST recall.

Question 9

Explain the findings

Answer 9

The list of words with the same meanings as original BLOCKED ACCESS. OR new material became CONFUSED with old.

Question 10

Give 2 strengths of the interference theory

Answer 10

1) evidence from lab studies is consistant

2) real-life studies have supported the interference theory

Question 11

What was Baddeley and Hitch’s experiment and what did it show?

Answer 11

They asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams that they had played so far in the season week by week .
Accurate recall wasn’t dependant on how long ago the match was, but the number of games in the meantime.
Supporting the theory of RETROACTIVE recall in a real life setting.

Question 12

Give 2 limitations of the interference theory

Answer 12

1) uses all artificial material

2) may be overcome by cues

Question 13

What did Tulving and Psotika’s experiment show?

Answer 13

Thry gave P’s 5 lists of 24 words, that were each organised into 6 categories. they werent explicitly obvious.
Recall was 70% for 1st list but as the lists went on recall dropped.
However, when they knew the categories of the lists it rose to 70% again.

Question 14

What is retrieval failure?

Answer 14

When info is initially stored the cues associated with that are the same as when retrieved.

Question 15

Define encoding specificity principle?

Answer 15

Tulving (1983) suggests that cues help retrieval if the same cues are presented at encoding as are at retrieval.
The closer the retrieval cue to the original cue the better.

Question 16

What are the two words for cues that have no meaningful link and therefore cause forgetting?

Answer 16

Context-dependant forgetting

State-dependant forgetting

Question 17

Who is the key study for retrieval failure conducted by?

Answer 17

Godden and Baddeley (1975)

Question 18

What 4 groups were the divers split up into?

Answer 18

1) learn on land- recall on land
2) learn on land- recall underwater
3) learn underwater- recall on land
4) learn underwater- recall underwater

Question 19

What was finding 1 on Godden and Baddeley’s study?

Answer 19

When environmental contexts of learning and recall did not match accurate recall was 40% lower than when they did match.

Question 20

What was finding 2 of G&B’s study?

Answer 20

When the external cues available at learning were different from the ones at recall, this led to retrieval failure due to lack of cues.

Question 21

What was finding 3 of G&B’s study? (conclusion)

Answer 21

This study clearly demonstrates context dependant forgetting, because info was not accessible when context at recall didn’t match context at learning.

Question 22

Give 2 strengths of the retrieval failure explanation

Answer 22

-Impressive range of evidence
(G&B’s study + Eysenck (2010) thinks RF is the main type of forgetting)
- Everyday application
(Everyone experiences being upstairs and then forgetting downstairs)

Question 23

Give 1 weakness of the retrieval failure explanation

Answer 23

-Context effects aren’t that strong
(Baddeley says that contexts have to be VERY different to have an effect on forgetting, clearly shown in experiments like LAND VS WATER)