retrieving memory

Question 1

what is retroactive

Answer 1

Retroactive interference iswhen new information causes someone to forget old information

Question 2

what is proactive

Answer 2

proactive interference is when old information inhibits the formation of new memories

Question 3

what is the issue of similarity

Answer 3

the more similar two sets of material are, the more pronounced the inference is likely to be. e.g experiment asked to read two lists of words and then after a break asked to recall the words from the first list → mixed up = issue of similarity.

Question 4

what are the strengths of the interference study

Answer 4

• despite sounding very plausible and having been replicated in lab settings, there are limiations to the theory
• critics point out that lab experiments mostly only use tests of recall, which are particularly prone to interference
• encoding semantic memory (such as learning a passage of text) seems to be less prone to interference