explanations for forgetting - interference

Question 1

define interference.

Answer 1

when two pieces of info conflict with each other, resulting in a distortion of memory.

Question 2

what are the two types of interference?

Answer 2

proactive interference - when old memories interfere with new ones e.g you have a new bank card but use your old pin.
retroactive interference - when new memories interfere with old ones e.g you want to use your old pin but keep putting your new pin.

Question 3

supporting research - paired associate testing

Answer 3

using words that have something in common - participants required to learn words from list A paired with list B (e.g cat + tree)
- asked to learn words from list A paired with list C (e.g cat + stone)
- then participant is given first word of the pair and asked to recall word from list C (proactive) or list B (retroactive)
- control condition: only learn lists A-B to see what recall will occur with no interference.

Question 4

supporting research - George Müller

Answer 4

• gave Ps a list of nonsense syllables to learn for 6 mins and then after a retention interval, had to recall the lists.
• performance was less good if Ps were given an intervening task between initial learning and recall.
• the intervening task produced retroactive interference because later task interfered with what was previously learned.

Question 5

supporting research - Underwood

Answer 5

• analysed the findings from a number of studies and concluded that when Ps have to learn a series of word lists, they do not learn lists of words encountered later on in sequence as well as ones encountered earlier on.
• if Ps memorised 10+ lists then only 20 percent of what they learned was remembered after 24hrs - one list recall was over 70 percent.

Question 6

supporting research - Baddeley
and Hitch

Answer 6

investigated inference effects in an everyday setting of rugby players recalling names of teams they’d played over the season.
- some players played all in season, others missed some.
- time interval from start to end was same for all players but number of intervening games was different due to missed games.
- all players should recall a similar percentage of games played because time alone should cause forgetting.
- those players who played most games should forget more due to interference.

Question 7

evaluation

Answer 7

• research is mostly lab based and so cannot relate to everyday forgetting, lacks ecological validity.
• interference doesn’t occur every time, it seems to occur more when the two memories are similar.
• interference doesn’t mean memory is completely lost, just delayed.
• application to advertising, people forget message of adverts if they see similar adverts.
• some are affected by interference more than others - can affect tests.