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psychology. > memory - explanations of forgetting: interference theory. > Flashcards

memory - explanations of forgetting: interference theory. Flashcards

1
Q

What is meant by “proactive interference”?

A

Occurs when an older memory interferes with a newer one.

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2
Q

What is meant by “retroactive interference”?

A

Occurs when a newer memory interferes with an older one.

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3
Q

What are the two types of interference?

A
  • proactive interference.
  • retroactive interference.
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4
Q

What is an example of proactive interference?

A

Teacher has learned so many new names in the past she struggles with the names of her current classes.

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5
Q

What is an example of retroactive interference?

A

Teacher has learned so many new names this year this year that she has difficulty remembering the names of students last year.

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6
Q

What does the interference theory state?

A
  • sometimes we forget as a result of interference.
  • occurs when two pieces of information conflict with each other
    ↳ leads to one memory disrupting the ability to recall another.
  • interference is mainly said to be the cause of forgetting memories in the LTM.
  • interference can make it difficult for us to access these memories although they are still in the LTM
    ↳ known as forgetting.
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7
Q

What experiment researches proactive interference?

A

Keppel and Underwood’s in 1962.

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8
Q

What was the aim of Keppel and Underwood’s proactive experiment?

A

Examine effect of proactive interference on LTM.

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9
Q

What is the procedure of Keppel and Underwood’s proactive experiment?

A
  1. presented with meaningless three-letter consonant trigrams such as THG at different intervals (3,6,9 seconds, etc).
    1. to prevent rehearsal participants had to count backwards in threes before recalling.
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10
Q

What are the findings of Keppel and Underwood’s proactive experiment?

A

Typically remembered trigrams that were presented first, irrespective of the interval length.

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11
Q

What is the conclusion of Keppel and Underwood’s proactive experiment?

A

Results suggest proactive interference occurred as memory for earlier consonants which had transferred to LTM was interfering with the memory for new consonants.

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12
Q

What experiments research retroactive interference?

A

Underwood and Postman’s in 1960.

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13
Q

What was the aim of Underwood and Postman’s retroactive experiment?

A

Examine effect of retroactive interference on LTM.

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14
Q

What is the procedure of Underwood and Postman’s retroactive experiment?

A
  1. lab experiment where participants were split into two groups.
    1. both groups had to remember a list of paired words such as cat and tree, jelly and moss, book and tractor.
      1. control group were not given second list.
        1. all participants were asked to recall words on the first list.
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15
Q

What are the findings of Underwood and Postman’s retroactive experiment?

A

Recall of control group was more accurate than that of the experimental group.

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16
Q

What is the conclusion of Underwood and Postman’s retroactive experiment?

A

Suggests that learning items in second list interfered with participants’ ability to recall the list.

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17
Q

What experiment researches the effect of similarity?

A

McGeoch and McDonald’s in (1931).

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18
Q

What was the aim of McGeoch and McDonald’s similarity experiment?

A

Investigate the effect of similarity on interference.

19
Q

What is the procedure of McGeoch and McDonald’s similarity experiment?

A
  1. changed the amount of similarity between 2 sets of materials.
    1. participants had to learn a list of words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy.
      1. then they learned a new list of words.
        1. 6 groups of participants who had to learn different types of lists
          ↳ group one: synonyms – words with same meanings as originals.
          ➝ group two: antonyms – words with the opposite meanings of the originals.
          ➝ group three: words unrelated to the original ones.
          ➝ group four: nonsense syllables.
          ➝ group five: three-digit numbers.
          ➝ group six: no new list – participants just rested.
20
Q

What are the findings of McGeoch and McDonald’s similarity experiment?

A

Most similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall.

21
Q

What is the conclusion of McGeoch and McDonald’s similarity experiment?

A

Suggests interference is strongest when memories are similar.

22
Q

What is a strength of the interference theory?

A
  • support from real life studies.
23
Q

What are the weaknesses of the interference theory?

A
  • interference and cues.
  • artificial materials.
  • time between learning.
24
Q

What is the evaluation of the interference theory - support from real life studies?

A

POINT - one strength is that it has supportive real-life evidence.
EVIDENCE - Baddeley and Hitch (1977) asked rugby players to try remember the names of teams they had played week by week. Most players has missed games. Accurate recall did not depend on how long ago the matches took place but on the number of games they played in the meantime.
EXPLANATION - players who missed matches have less interference meaning their recall would be better than those who had played every match supporting the theory due to the lack of conflicting information.
LINK - increased external validity due to nature of the study reflecting day to day activity.

25
Q

What is the evaluation of the interference theory - interference and cues?

A

POINT - one weakness is it can be overcome by suing cues.
EVIDENCE - Tulving and Pstoka (1971) gave participants lists of words organised into categories one list at a time. Recall averaged about 70% for the first list but got worse as participants learnt additional list. Participants were given a cued list and old names of categories and recall rose to 70%.
EXPLANATION - words have not disappeared from LTM just inaccessible unless they had sufficient cues to help retrieve information.
LINK - interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM.

26
Q

What is the evaluation of the interference theory - artificial materials?

A

POINT - one weakness is it has relied on the use of artificial materials.
EVIDENCE - most research carried out in a lab where materials tend to be lists of words with a task attached to learn them McGeoch and McDonald used word lists in experiment.
EXPLANATION - differs from what we try to learn everyday such as people’s faces, birthdays, etc. Difficult to generalise lacking mundane realism.
LINK - lacks external validity.

27
Q

What is the evaluation of the interference theory - time between learning?

A

POINT - one weakness is the reliance on lab experiments means they are designed so the possibility of interference is maximised.
EVIDENCE - time period between learning lists of words and recalling them are short. Whole experience of learning could be over within an hour.
EXPLANATION - do not generally learn and recall information within such a short time. The longer the time between learning and recall the less likely there is to be forgetting due to interference.
LINK - lab studies may over exaggerate the effect of interference as a form of forgetting in real-life.

28
Q

What is the evaluation point of the interference theory - support from real life studies?

A

One strength is that it has supportive real-life evidence.

29
Q

What is the evaluation evidence of the interference theory - support from real life studies?

A
  • Baddeley and Hitch (1977) asked rugby players to try remember the names of teams they had played week by week.
  • most players has missed games.
  • accurate recall did not depend on how long ago the matches took place but on the number of games they played in the meantime.
30
Q

What is the evaluation explanation of the interference theory - support from real life studies?

A

Players who missed matches have less interference meaning their recall would be better than those who had played every match supporting the theory due to the lack of conflicting information.

31
Q

What is the evaluation link of the interference theory - support from real life studies?

A

Increased external validity due to nature of the study reflecting day to day activity.

32
Q

What is the evaluation point of the interference theory - interference and cues?

A

One weakness is it can be overcome by suing cues.

33
Q

What is the evaluation evidence of the interference theory - interference and cues?

A
  • Tulving and Pstoka (1971) gave participants lists of words organised into categories one list at a time.
  • recall averaged about 70% for the first list but got worse as participants learnt additional list.
  • participants were given a cued list and old names of categories and recall rose to 70%.
34
Q

What is the evaluation explanation of the interference theory - interference and cues?

A

Words have not disappeared from LTM just inaccessible unless they had sufficient cues to help retrieve information.

35
Q

What is the evaluation link of the interference theory - interference and cues?

A

Interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM.

36
Q

What is the evaluation point of the interference theory - artificial materials?

A

One weakness is it has relied on the use of artificial materials.

37
Q

What is the evaluation evidence of the interference theory - artificial materials?

A

Most research carried out in a lab where materials tend to be lists of words with a task attached to learn them McGeoch and McDonald used word lists in experiment.

38
Q

What is the evaluation explanation of the interference theory - artificial materials?

A
  • differs from what we try to learn everyday such as people’s faces, birthdays, etc.
  • difficult to generalise lacking mundane realism.
39
Q

What is the evaluation link of the interference theory - artificial materials?

A

Lacks external validity.

40
Q

What is the evaluation point of the interference theory - time between learning?

A

One weakness is the reliance on lab experiments means they are designed so the possibility of interference is maximised.

41
Q

What is the evaluation evidence of the interference theory - time between learning?

A
  • time period between learning lists of words and recalling them are short.
  • whole experience of learning could be over within an hour.
42
Q

What is the evaluation explanation of the interference theory - time between learning?

A
  • do not generally learn and recall information within such a short time.
  • the longer the time between learning and recall the less likely there is to be forgetting due to interference.
43
Q

What is the evaluation link of the interference theory - time between learning?

A

Lab studies may over exaggerate the effect of interference as a form of forgetting in real-life.

psychology. (36 decks)

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