Theories of Forgetting: Interference

Question 1

Briefly outline what is meant by the term interference in relation to forgetting

Answer 1

When one piece of information disrupts the ability to recall another, causing disruption in memory

Question 2

Outline retroactive interference

Answer 2

• Proposed by Muller and Pilzecker (1990)
• Found that people recalled less information if they had to do an intervening task between learning and recall
• New learning disrupts old learning
• Old info is forgotten
• E.g. learning the pin for your new credit card (new learning) but forgetting the pin for your old credit card (old learning)

Question 3

Outline proactive interference

Answer 3

• Proposed by Underwood (1957)
• Old learning disrupts new learning
• New info is forgotten
• E.g. moving into a new house and telling someone the old address (old learning) instead of the new address (new learning)

Question 3

Outline McDonald and McGeoch’s study (A03 paragraph)

Answer 3

• Aim: To investigate the extent to which retroactive interference effects long-term memories
• Method: Lab experiment
• Procedure: First word list the same for both conditions (10 adjectives), second word list with different levels of similarity to the first list (synonyms, consonant syllables or numbers)
• Results: Synonym condition: 12% accurate, Consonant syllable condition: 26% accurate, Number condition: 37% accurate (recall of the initial list after hearing the first list)
• Conclusion: Interference is more likely to occur when the information is similar

Question 4

What are two strengths of the interference theory of forgetting?

Answer 4

1.) Supporting, empirical evidence: McDonald and McGeoch’s study supports the main assumptions

2.) Real world application increases validity: useful in advertising, Danaher found that participants struggled to recognise brands with similar logos or colours seen in a short amount of time, therefore advertisers can use this knowledge to implement effective marketing strategies

Question 5

What are two limitations of the interference theory of forgetting?

Answer 5

1.) Artificial research lacks external validity: McDonald and McGeoch conducted lab experiment so environment is artificial and we cannot generalise findings to real life, cannot understand how much forgetting is due to interference so further research may be required in a relative setting

2.) Individual differences decrease validity: Kane found participants with bigger STM spans were less susceptible to proactive interference meaning some are less affected than others by interference therefore theory does not take individual differences into consideration