explainations for forgetting - interferance theory

Question 1

what is interferance

Answer 1

when two pieces of information block each other resulting in one/both memories being distorted/forgotten

Question 2

what is proactive interferance

Answer 2

older Memories interferes with the new

Question 3

what is retroactive interferance

Answer 3

new information interferes with the old

Question 4

who conducted research on similarity

Answer 4

McGeoch and McDonald (1931)

Question 5

what was McGeoch and McDonald’s research procedure

Answer 5

Studies retroactive interference by changing the amount of similairy between two sets of materials
-PPs learnt a list of 10 words, then had to learn a new one involving e.g.
-Synonyms, antonyms, unrelated words, three digit numbers etc (six groups)

Question 6

what were McGeoch and McDonald’s findings

Answer 6

most similar material produced the worst recall

Question 7

strength - real world interferance

Answer 7

• Baddeley and Hitch- Asked rugby players to recall the names of teams they played against
  -Players who played the most games (most interference) had the poorest recall.

Question 8

limitation - rare situations

Answer 8

• Interference is unusual, conditions necessary are rare e.g. two similar memories

Question 9

limitation - can be overcome

Answer 9

-Tulving and Psotka- pps learnt multiple word lists
-the more lists learnt= worse recall became.
-Used cues- recall rose again (70%)

interference- only causes temporary loss.

Question 10

strength - drug studies

Answer 10

-Coenen and van Luijtelaar (1997)
-Words learnt under influence of Diazepam-recall was poor.
-but when words learnt before taking drug- recall was better than placebo.
-Drug facillitated recall of material learnt beforehand.
-Wixted - drug prevents new info from reaching parts of brain involved in processing memories so interference cannot occur.