Interference Theory of Forgetting

Question 1

What store does forgetting usually refer to?

Answer 1

LTM

Question 2

Interference

Answer 2

The theory that forgetting is due to other information in our LTM interfering with our ability to retrieve a memory.

Question 3

Proactive Interference

Answer 3

When our old memories affect newer memories.

Question 4

What can cause proactive interference?

Answer 4

Competition between information, when the incorrect response is strong and the correct response is very weak.

Question 5

Retroactive Interference

Answer 5

When our new memories affect our older memories.

Question 6

What causes retroactive interference?

Answer 6

The correct response is hard to retrieve, the incorrect response is highly accessible, the information is very similar.

Question 7

McGeoch and McDonald (1931) - Aim

Answer 7

To investigate retroactive interferences by changing the similarity of two sets of information.

Question 8

McGeoch and McDonald (1931) - Procedure

Answer 8

Participants learnt a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy. They then learned a new list of words, and were placed in one of six conditions:
1. Synonyms
2. Antonyms
3. Unrelated words
4. Nonsense syllables
5. Three-digit numbers
6. No new list - participants rested
Participants then had to recall the original list of words.

Question 9

McGeoch and McDonald (1931) - Findings

Answer 9

The recall of the original list depended on their second list. Those in the synonyms condition recalled fewer words than those in the other conditions.

Question 10

McGeoch and McDonald (1931) - Conclusion

Answer 10

Forgetting through interference happens most when the information is most similar.

Question 11

Which type of interference does McGeoch and McDonald demonstrate?

Answer 11

Retroactive Interference

Question 12

McGeoch and McDonald (1931) - Strengths

Answer 12

• Multiple conditions used allows findings to be compared.
• High control of extraneous variables, meaning for increased validity.
• Control allows for accurate replication - good reliability.

Question 13

McGeoch and McDonald (1931) - Limitations

Answer 13

• Artificial task - lacks mundane realism, lowered validity. This lowers generalisability to real-life situations.
• Artificial setting - low ecological validity.
• Lab experiment may cause for demand characteristics.
• The experiment took place in a short time frame. This lacks application to real-life as most forgetting would take place over a longer period of time.

Question 14

Keppel and Underwood (1962) - Aim

Answer 14

To examine the effect of proactive interference on long-term memory, in an experiment that resembles Peterson and Peterson (1959).

Question 15

Keppel and Underwood (1962) - Procedure

Answer 15

Participants were presented with meaningless three-letter consonant trigrams at different intervals (increasing in threes). To prevent rehearsal, the participants had to count backwards in threes before recalling.

Question 16

Keppel and Underwood (1962) - Findings

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Keppel and Underwood (1962) - Conclusion

Answer 17

The earlier trigrams of consonants had transferred to LTM, and as the following information was similar, it made learning and therefore, remembering the new trigrams more difficult.

Question 18

Which type of interference does Keppel and Underwood (1962) demonstrate?

Answer 18

Proactive Interference

Question 19

Keppel and Underwood (1962) - Strengths

Answer 19

• Supported by Peterson and Peterson’s research, good reliability.
• High control of extraneous variables, good validity.
• Control allows for accurate replication - good reliability.

Question 20

Keppel and Underwood (1962) - Limitations

Answer 20

• Artificial task - lacks mundane realism, low validity, low generalisability to real-life situations.
• Artificial setting - low ecological validity.
• Possibility of demand characteristics.
• Carried out within a short time frame, limited application to real-life situations.

Question 21

Interference Theory - Strengths

Answer 21

• Supporting evidence from McGeoch and McDonald.
• Supporting evidence from Keppel and Underwood.
• Good testability - research is replicable and reliable.
• Supporting evidence from Baddeley and Hitch (1977) - asked rugby players to remember names of the teams they played that season. Found that recall was better when there were less games in the meantime, not the amount of time in the meantime. Supports retroactive interference, and is more applicable than lab studies.

Question 22

Interference Theory - Limitations

Answer 22

• Opposing theory - retrieval failure.
• Limited testability - artificial tasks and environments used in research.
• Limited usefulness - findings from research lack useful application, due to the artificial experiments.
• Contradictory evidence from Tulving and Psotka (1971) - gave participants five lists of 24 words, each organised in six categories. Found that recall was 70% for the first list, and fell for the others. However, recall was back at 70% when participants were cued with category names. Shows that information that is supposedly lost, is still in the LTM just not easily accessed.