Explanations for forgetting: interference Flashcards
(8 cards)
What is interference in causing forgetting?
-Occurs when two pieces of information disrupt each other which can result in forgetting information or distortion of memory
Which memory store does interference causing forgetting in?
-LTM, can’t be accessed even though they are available
What two types of interference are there and what memorys causing forgetting?
1)Proactive interference: occurs when an older memory interferes with a newer one
2)Retroactive interference:happens when a newer memory interferes with an older one.
What did Mcgeoch and William McDonald research on forgetting?
-the extent to which similarity effects forgetting
What was the procedure of McGeoch and McDonald’s research?
-Studied retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between 2 sets of materials
-Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember 100% accuracy, then learned a new list.
-6 groups: G1: synonyms, G2, antonyms, G3, unrelated words to original, G4: consonant syllables
G5: three digit numbers, G6, no new list, just rested (control condition)
What were the findings of McGeoch and McDonald’s research?
-When asked to recall the original list of words, the synonym condition produced the worst recall
-Shows that interference is strongest when memories are similar
What are the strengths of the interference as an explanation for forgetting?
-Support from drug studies: evidence of retrograde facilitation. Coenen and Luijtelaar gave participants a list of words and later asked them to recall the list, using interference. They found that under the influence of diazepan, recall one week later was poor (compared to placebo) but when list was taken before the drug was taken, recall was better than placebo. This suggests drug facilitated recall of material learnt beforehand. Drug causes proactive interference (learning new stuff cause of old) but cannot interfere with retroactive interference.
-Real world interference: Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams they played in a season. The players who played the most games (varying because of injury) had the poorest recall. Shows that interference can operate in real-world situations improving ecological validity.
However, whilst it may occur it is unusual as memories to be so similar that they interfere with eachother is unlikely.This suggests forgetting may be better explained by other theories such as retrieval failure
What is the limitations of interference as an explanation for forgetting?
Interference and cues: interference is temporary and can be overcome by cues. Tulving and Psotka gave participants a list of words organised into categories, one list at a time. Recall averaged about 70% for first list but became progressively worse as participants learned each additional list (PI).At the end of the procedure participants given a cued recall test and recall rose to about 70%. This shows that interference only causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM, a finding not predicted by interference explanation
