Forgetting

Question 1

What is Interference theory?

Answer 1

Information in LTM becoming confused with or disrupted by other information during coding, leading to inaccurate recall

Question 2

What is proactive interference?

Answer 2

When information we have already learnt causes problems when trying to recall new information

Question 3

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 3

When information we have recently learnt causes problems when we try to recall information learned previously

Question 4

What did Schmidt et al aim to research?

Answer 4

The influence of retroactive interference upon the memory of street names learned during childhood

Question 5

Who took part in Schmidt et al’s study?

Answer 5

211 participants, ranging from 11-79 years from the same Dutch elementary school

Question 6

What was the procedure of Schmidt et al’s study?

Answer 6

Pps were given a map of their old school’s neighbourhood with all 48 street names replaced with numbers and asked to remember as many as possible. Other relevant details were also collected by questionnaire e.g. how many times they moved, how often they visited their old neighbourhood

Question 7

How was retroactive interference measured in Schmidt et al’s study?

Answer 7

The amount of times they had moved to other neighbourhoods or cities

Question 8

What were the findings of Schmidt et al’s study?

Answer 8

There was a positive association between the number of times participants had moved house outside of the neighbourhood and the amount of street names forgotten

Question 9

What is a strength of Schmidt et al’s study?

Answer 9

Application = Methodology used shows that it is possible to conduct research on retroactive interference in real-life settings

Question 10

What are some limitations of Schmidt et al’s study?

Answer 10

Extraneous variables = Those who had played in the neighbourhood more would likely have learned the street names to a greater degree to those who didnt play often or didnt walk to school
Reductionist = Only explains forgetting when 2 sets of information are similar, interference cannot explain forgetting in the majority of real-life scenarios

Question 11

What is cue-dependent forgetting?

Answer 11

Sees recall as dependant upon retrieval cues - like the labels on files in a filing system.

Question 12

What are the two main forms of CDF?

Answer 12

Context-dependent failure and state-dependent failure

Question 13

What study is used for context-dependent failure?

Answer 13

Godden & Baddeley (1975)

Question 14

Who took part in G&B’s study on CDF?

Answer 14

18 divers from a diving club in Scotland

Question 15

What was the procedure of G&B’s study on CDF?

Answer 15

Divers were asked to learn and then recall a list of 36 unrelated words of 2 or 3 syllables

Question 16

What were the 4 conditions for G&B’s study on CDF?

Answer 16

Learn on beach -> recall on beach
Learn on beach -> recall underwater
Learn underwater -> recall on beach
Learn underwater -> recall underwater

Question 17

What were the findings of G&B’s study on CDF?

Answer 17

(Words recalled)
Beach -> beach = 13.5
Beach -> underwater = 8.6
Underwater -> beach = 8.5
Underwater -> underwater = 11.4

Question 18

What are some strengths of G&B’s study on CDF?

Answer 18

Applications = Police use this theory in cognitive interview by asking witnesses to describe the context in which the incident took place to enhance their recall
Replicability = The study was a controlled experiment, increasing reliability

Question 19

What are some limitations of G&B’s study?

Answer 19

Disruption = The groups who had to change location would have been disrupted, whereas the other groups were not. This could have influenced recall
Ecological validity = The task was artificial as we are not usually asked to learn a list of meaningless words in our every day life

Question 20

What study is used for state-dependent failure?

Answer 20

Goodwin et al (1975)

Question 21

Who took part in Goodwin et al’s study?

Answer 21

48 male medical students

Question 22

What was the procedure for Goodwin et al’s study?

Answer 22

Pps were asked to complete tasks when they were either drunk or sober, and then repeat the tasks in 24 hours, when they were either drunk or sober again.

Question 23

What were the 4 conditions in Goodwin et al’s study?

Answer 23

(SS) = Sober on both days
(AA) = Intoxicated on both days
(AS) = Intoxicated on day 1 and sober on day 2
(SA) = Sober on day 1 and intoxicated on day 2

Question 24

What were the findings of Goodwin et al’s study?

Answer 24

More errors were made on day 2 in the AS and SA condition than in the AA and SS conditions, but this was not the case for the picture recognition test.

Question 25

What 4 tests did they have to complete in Goodwin et al's study?

Answer 25

Avoidance task, verbal rote-learning task, word-association test, picture recognition task

Question 26

What is a strength of Goodwin et al's study?

Answer 26

Applications = This is used as a strategy to improve recall in eye-witness memory when the witnesses are asked to describe their mood/emotional state when the incident took place

Question 27

What are some limitations of Goodwin et al's study?

Answer 27

Motivation = Study doesn't consider the meaning of the material. If the recall concerned revising for an exam, there may be more motivation, making the recall better Ecological Validity = The tasks performed were artificial, so their performance may not reflect the way they would perform on tasks in everyday life

Question 28

What is repression?

Answer 28

A type of motivated forgetting where emotionally threatening events are thought to be banished into the unconscious mind to prevent the feelings of anxiety they might cause.

Question 29

Why might repression cause issues in real life?

Answer 29

Repressed memories 'recovered' during repressed memory therapy have often been proved to be false, known as false memory syndrome. The accusation is that therapists are suggesting and planting false memories in clients.