Psychology: Memory - Explanations for forgetting: Interference

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8 Terms

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Interference

  • When two pieces of info disrupts eachother.

  • Forgetting occurs because we can't get access to memories even though they’re available.

  • Interference is worse when memories are similar

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Proactive interference (PI)

Occurs when an older memory disrupts a newer one

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Retroactive interference (RI)

Occurs when a newer memory disrupts an older one

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McGeoch and McDonald (1931) Effects of similarity: Procedure

Pps were asked to learn a list of words completely accurately, then they were given a new list to learn

  • Group 1: Synonyms

  • Group 2: Antonyms

  • Group 3: Unrelated

  • Group 4: Consonant syllables

  • Group 5: 3-digit numbers

  • Group 6: Control group (no new list)

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McGeoch and McDonald (1931) Effects of similarity: Findings

Performance depend on the nature of the second list. The most similar material produced worst recall, showing that interference is strong when memories are similar.

<p>Performance depend on the nature of the second list. The most similar material produced worst recall, showing that interference is strong when memories are similar.</p>
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Strength - some support for interference in real-world situations

  • Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to recall names of teams they had played against

  • Players didnt play the same number of games due to things like injuries. Those who played more games had worse recall

  • Shows interference operates in slme everyday situations increasing validity of theory

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Limitation - interference effects may be overcome using cues

  • Tulving and Psotka gave pps lists of words organised into categories

  • Recall of first list was 70% but fell with each new list, when given a cued recall test, recall rose to 70% again

  • Shows that interference causes a temporary loss of access to material still in LTM - not predicted by the theory

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Strength - Support from drug studies

  • Material learned just before taking drugs recalled better than a placebo group one week later

  • The drug stopped new info reaching brain areas that process memories, so it could not retroactively interfere with stored info

  • Shows that forgetting is due to interference - reducing the interference reduced the forgetting