Memory Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is retroactive interference?
When new/ recent information gets in the way of recalling older information
What is proactive interference?
When old information gets in the way of recalling newer information
What are the two different types of interference in reference to memory?
Proative interference and retroactive interference
What are the two evaluation strengths for interference theory?
Evidence from lab studies - literally thousands of lab studies consistently demonstrate the accuracy of the interference theory
Real-Life studies - Baddely & Hitch rugby players experiment found that memory loss was due to interference rather than the passage of time.
What is the one evaluation weakness for interference theory?
Artificial materials - Most research has come from lab studies and therefore lacks mundane realism / external validity. - e.g. People wouldn’t usually have to remember long lists of words in everyday life
Which psychologists did a study into the effects of similarity?
McGeoch and McDonald (1931)
What was the procedure of McGeoch + McDonald’s study into the effects of similarity?
Gave a list of words to ppts until they learnt them 100%
6 independent groups assigned variations of the list of words
Changed the amount of similarity between words between each group
What were the findings from McGeoch + McDonald’s study into the effects of similarity?
Ppts recollection of original list depended on the nature of the second list
The more similar the lists - the worse the recollection
Shows that interference is stronger when memories are similar
What are the three full evaluation points for interference theory?
Lots of evidence from lab studies.
Most lab studies use artificial materials.
Some research into real-life applications (Baddeley + Hitch’s rugby player investigation)
What is the other explanation for forgetting? (not interference theory)
Retrieval Failure
What is the main principle for retrieval failure?
Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP)
What was encoding specificity principle?
Tulving (1983) came up with the theory that states:
If a cue is present at the time of learning (encoding), it helps us to recall the information later if the same cue is also present. Therefore if the cue is absent at the time of retrieval then retrieval will be more difficult.
What are the two main examples forgetting under ESP?
Context-dependent forgetting & State-dependent forgetting
What was the main key study into context-dependent forgetting and what was its findings?
Godden & Baddeley (1975) deep sea divers study found that if external cues (context) present during encoding were absent at the time of retrieval then retrieval failure was much more likely.
What was the main key study into state-dependent forgetting and what was its findings?
Carter & Cassidy (1998) anti-histamine study found that retrieval was significantly worse when the physiological state of the participant was different to that at the point of encoding.
