proactive and retroactive interference

Question 1

AO1

Answer 1

Forgetting is the inability to remember memories, and interference sees forgetting as being due to information in LTM becoming confused with or disrupted by other forms of information.
Proactive interference occurs when information that has been stored previously interferes with an attempt to recall something new - when what we already know interferes with what we are currently learning. (Old disrupts new). E.g. the memory of a previously known phone number disrupts attempts to recall a new phone number.
Retroactive interference occurs when coding new information disrupts information previously stored. (New disrupts old). E.g. The memory of a new car registration number prevents recall of a previous one.

Question 2

AO3 - recalling paired word lists

Answer 2

Underwood and Postman conducted a study on the effect of retroactive interference. They divided participants into 2 groups. Group A were asked to learn a list of word pairs, and were then asked to learn a second list of word pairs, where the 2nd paired word was different. Group B was only asked to learn the first list. Both groups were asked to recall the first list of word pairs. They found that group B produced a more accurate recall of the first list than group A. Therefore, supports retroactive interference as explanation for forgetting.
Lab experiment, so low ecological validity as setting is not real life. Therefore, results cannot be generalised.

Question 3

AO3 - rugby teams

Answer 3

Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to try to remember the names of teams they had played so far that season. Results showed accurate recall did not matter how long ago the matches took place, but how many games a player had played in the meantime. This therefore supports that interference is a useful explanation for forgetting.
Real life situation, so results can be generalised.

Question 4

AO3 -

Answer 4

It has been found that interference is not able to explain memory loss in all situations. This is because it only seems to affect memory when the information being remembered is similar. Therefore, it is not credible for forgetting in general.
Furthermore, researchers found that those with greater working memory were less susceptible to proactive interference than those with smaller working memory span. So, does not affect everyone equally.