4. Explanations for forgetting: Interference ^_^

What is the interference theory?

This occurs when two pieces of information disrupt each other, resulting in forgetting of one or both, resulting in some distortion of memory.

• interference has been proposed mainly as an explanation for forgetting in long-term memory.

• one information has reached LTM it is more of less permanent.

• Therefor, any forgetting of LTMs is most likely because we cant get access to them even though they are available.

• interference between memories makes it harder for us to locate them, and this is experienced as ‘forgetting’

What are the two types of interference?

proactive interference (PI) and Retroactive interference (RI)

Outline Proactive interference.

• it occurs when an older memory interferes with a newer one (disrupts an newer one). e.g. your teacher has learned so many new names in the past year that she has difficulty remembering the names of her current class.

Outline retroactive interference.

• it occurs when a newer memory interferes with an older one (disrupts the older one). e.g. your teacher has learned so many new names this year that she has difficulty remembering the names of the students last year.

Outline the procedure performed by McGeoch and McDonald (1931) to research the effects of similarity.

McGeoch and McDonald studied retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between two sets of materials.

Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy. They then learned a new list.

There were six groups of participants who had to learn different types of new lists:

• group 1: synonyms

• group 2: antonyms

• group3: words unrelated to the original list

• group 4: consonant syllables

• Group 5: three-digit numbers

• group 6: no new list (control condition)

When the PPs were asked to recall the original list of words, the most similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall. This shows that interference is strongest when the memories are similar.

Evaluate the interference theory.

Real world interference. ✅

Evidence of interference effects in more everyday situations.

-Baddeley and Hitch (1977) asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams they had played against during a rugby season.

• the players had all played for the same time interval (over one season) but the number of intervening games varied because some players missed matches due to injury.

• Players who had played the most games (most interference for memory) had the poorest recall.

• This study shows that interference can operate in at least some real-world situations, increasing the validity of the theory.

Counterpoint : Interference may cause some forgetting in everyday life, but

it is unusual.

• This is because the conditions necessary for interference to occur are relatively rare. This is very unlike the lab studies used to test interference (controlled conditions) which allows researchers to create ideal conditions for interference. For instance, two memories have to be fairly similar in order to interfere with each other.

• This may happen occasionally in everyday life (e.g. if you were to revise similar subjects close in time), but not often.

• This suggests that most forgetting may be better explained by other theories such as retrieval failure due to a lack of cues.

Interference and cues ❌

interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues.

• Tulving and Psotka (1971) gave participants lists of words where the words were organised into categories (participants were not told what the categories were)

• Recall averaged about 70% for the first list, but became progressively worse as participants learnt each additional list (interference).

• at the end of the procedure, the participants were given a cued recall test - they were told the names of the categories.

• Recall rose again to about 70%

This shows that interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM, a finding not predicted by interference theory.