Memory- Explanations For Forgetting 4/6

Question 1

Interference theory

Answer 1

Interference theory suggests we forget because our long term memories become confused (disrupted) by other information while it is coded.

Question 2

Proactive interference

Answer 2

Proactive Interference: Old information disrupts new. Interference works forward in time, when old information already stored interferes with recalling something new.

Question 3

Retro-active interference

Answer 3

Retro-active Interference: New information disrupts old. Interference works backward in time, new information being stored interferes with recall of old info

Question 4

Similarity

Answer 4

Similarity: Interference is more likely to occur when the two pieces of
information are similar this is due to response competition.

Question 5

Time sensitivity

Answer 5

Time sensitivity:
Interference is less likely to occur when there is large a gap between the instances of learning.

Question 6

Evaluation
Schmidt et al (2000)

Answer 6

Schmidt et al (2000)

Investigated retroactive interference using the memory of childhood street names. 11-79 year olds were sent a questionnaire containing a map of the area around their old school without street names. It was found the more times an individual moved home, the fewer street names recalled, a negative correlation between number of times moved house and street names recalled.

This suggests retro-active interference, the process of remembering new streets makes interferes with the previously stored LTM of old street, making recall of older names harder

Question 7

Evaluation
Greenberg and underwood 1950

Answer 7

Greenberg & Underwood (1950) asked participants to learn 10 paired word lists.
Then gave the participants 48hrs before recall. This was repeated four times. It was found the number of correctly recalled word pairs decreased the more word pairs had been learnt previously.

This provides evidence for pro-active interference, as the previously leant word combinations caused confusion in the coding of the later word lists, interfering with the accurate recall of later learnt word lists.

Question 8

Cue dependent forgetting

Answer 8

Cue dependant forgetting: Information in LTM but forgetting happens due to absence of appropriate cues/prompts encoded a the same time (encoding specificity principle)

Question 9

Context dependent cues

Answer 9

Context Dependent Cues. Aspects of the external environment work as cues to memory (sights, sounds, smells). So being in different place would inhibit memory as we would lack environmental cues.

Question 10

Evaluation
Golden and Baddeley

Answer 10

Godden & Baddeley (1975)

studied divers, asking them to learn new material either on dry land or while underwater, then tested either on dry land or water.
It was found recall was worse if in different context and best if same For example information was learnt under water was recalled best under water.
This suggests being in the same environment for both learning and recall aids recall by providing context cues.

Question 11

State dependent cues

Answer 11

State Dependant Cues Aspects of our internal environment work as cues to memory (emotions, drugs ext, state of arousal). So being in different emotional state would inhibit memory as we would lack state dependant cues.

Question 12

Evaluation
Overton (1972)

Answer 12

Overton (1972)
asked participants to learn material either drunk or sober. Then tested them on this information when they were drunk or sober.
It was found recall was worse if in different internal state and best if internal state. for example information was learnt drunk it was recalled best drunk.

This suggests being in the same state for both learning and recall aids recall by providing state dependant cues.

Question 13

Category/ organisational dependent cues

Answer 13

Category / Organisational Dependent Cues Providing cues that relate to the organisation/ category of memories may aid recall, as its easier find a file if the draws are labelled. The most effective cues have fewer things associated with them. The lack of organisation/ category cues may inhibit memory.

Question 14

Evaluation
Ruling and Pealstone (1966)

Answer 14

Tulving & Pealstone (1966) Asked participants to learn 48 words. The participants either used free recall (answering in any order) or recall to match 12 4 word categories. It was found participants recalled significantly more in the category condition.

This suggests the categories acted as cues and aiding recall.

Question 15

Evaluation
Real life applications

Answer 15

Psychological research into how forgetting works has real practical applications, students can develop effective revision strategies and theories like context cues improving recall have been used in the development of an effective police technique called the cognitive interview

Question 16

Evaluation
May not be true explanation

Answer 16

However as interference and cue theory may only explain a temporary loss of information, they may not be a true explanation for forgetting. This would be the permanent loss of information from long term memory. It could be interference involves over-writing of other information or just makes it inaccessible.

Question 17

Evaluation
Day to day examples

Answer 17

Interference only explains forgetting when two sets of info are similar and often when learnt close together in time (time sensitivity). This means the theory struggles to explain many day to day examples of forgetting such as forgetting someone’s birthday.

Question 18

Evaluation
External validity

Answer 18

Much of the evidence on interference as a factor in forgetting comes from artificial laboratory experiments using artificial tasks. The external validity of these findings may be low, interference may not occur to the same extent in more real-life settings and scenarios, so lowering our confidence in interference as an explanation of forgetting.