Explanation for forgetting: Interference

What is interference

When 2 pieces of information disrupt each other resulting in forgetting one or both or distortion of memory

What has interference been proposed mainly as an explanation for

Forgetting in long term memory

What are the 2 types of interference

• Proactive interference

• Retroactive interference

What is proactive interference

When an older memory interferes with a newer one (pro - working forwards)

What is retroactive interference

When a newer memory interferes with an older one (retro - working backwards)

Who did the research on effects of similarity

McGeoh and McDonald

How did they investigate this

They changed the amount of similarity between 2 sets of materials. Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy. There were 6 groups

What did they find

When participants were asked to recall the original set of words which was the most similar, recall was worst. Shows interference is strongest when memories are similar.

Why does similarity affect recall

PI - previously stored info makes new info harder to store

RI - new info overwrites old info because of the similarity

What is a support evaluation point

There is evidence of interference effects in everyday life. Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of teams they had played against during a rugby season. The players all played one season but the number of intervening games varied because some players missed matches due to injury. Players who played the most games (most interference) had poorest recall. Shows interference can operate in real world scenarios - increasing validity

What is a counterpoint for the previous evaluation point

Interference may cause some forgetting in everyday life but it is unusual because the conditions needed for it to occur are rare. It is unlike lab studies where there is a high amount of control and researches can create ideal conditions for interference to happen. Suggests most forgetting may be better explained by other theories like retrieval failure due to a lack of cues

What is a limitation evaluation point

Interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues and hints. Tulving and Ptoska gave participants lists organised in categories, one list at a time. Recall averaged 70% for the first list but got worse with more lists - proactive interference. At the end participants were given a cued recall test and recall rose again to 70%. Shows interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to info in the LTM - not predicted by the interference theory

What is a support evaluation point

There is evidence from retrograde facilitation. Researches gave participants a list of words and later asked them to recall it expecting intervening experiences would act as interference. They found that when the list of words was learned under a drug - diazepan - recall one week later was poor compared with a placebo control group. But when list was learned before drug was taken, recall one week later was better. Drug improved info learned beforehand

What was the explanation for the drug improving info learned beforehand

Wixted suggested the drug prevents new information reaching parts of the brain involved in processing memories so it cannot interfere retroactively with info already stored. Finding shows forgetting can be due to interference - reduce the interference u reduce forgetting