explanations for forgetting

interference theory

occurs when information in long-term memory becomes confused with or gets replaced by other information during coding / retrieval.

what is interference divided into?

• proactive interference

• retroactive interference

proactive interference

when old memories interfere with the ability to recall new information.

retroactive interference

when new information interferes with the ability to remember old information.

when is interference more likely to occur?

interference is more likely to occur when the two pieces of information are similar. this is due to response competition.

when is interference less likely to occur?

interference is less likely to occur when there is a large gap between the instances of learning. (time sensitivity)

what are two evaluations for interference?

• schmidt et al (2000)

• greenberg and underwood (1950)

schmidt et al (2000)

investigated retroactive interference using the memory of childhood street names.

• 11-79 year olds were sent a questionnaire containing a map of the area around their old school without street names.

• it was found the more times an individual moved home, the fewer street names recalled, a negative correlation between number of times moved house and street names recalled

• this suggests retro-active interference, the process of remembering new streets makes interferes with the previously stored LTM of old street, making recall of older names harder

this study also has good ecological validity as real people and real streets were used

greenberg and underwood (1950)

• asked participants to learn 10 paired word lists, then gave the participants 48hrs before recall.

• this was repeated four times and it was found the number of correctly recalled word pairs decreased the more word pairs had been learnt previously.

• therefore providing evidence for pro-active interference, as the previously leant word combinations caused confusion in the coding of the later word lists, interfering with the accurate recall of later learnt word lists.

cue

a hint or trigger that can help retrieve a memory

cue dependant forgetting

information in LTM but forgetting happens due to absence of appropriate cues/prompts encoded at the same time (encoding specificity principle)

encoding specificity principle

cues must be present at encoding and retrieval.

what are the two types of cue dependent forgetting?

• context dependent

• state dependent

context dependent

aspects of the external environment work as cues to memory (sights, sounds, smells). so being in different place would inhibit memory as we would lack environmental cues.

evaluation for context dependent cues

godden and baddeley (1975)

godden and baddeley (1975)

• studied divers, asking them to learn new material either on dry land or while underwater, then tested either on dry land or water.

• it was found recall was worse if in different context and best if it was the same. e.g. information learnt under water was recalled best under water.

• this suggests being in the same environment for both learning and recall aids recall by providing context cues.

state dependent cues

aspects of our internal environment work as cues to memory (emotions, drugs ext, state of arousal). so being in different emotional state would inhibit memory as we would lack state dependant cues.

evaluation for state dependent cues

carter and cassaday (1998)

carter and cassaday (1998)

• gave anti histamine drugs to their participants to (mild sedative) they had to learn a passage and then recall it

• they found that when there was a mismatch between the internal state at learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significantly worse

overton (1972)

• asked participants to learn material either drunk or sober. then tested them on this information when they were drunk or sober.

• it was found recall was worse if in different internal state and best if internal state. for example information was learnt drunk it was recalled best drunk.

• this suggests being in the same state for both learning and recall aids recall by providing state dependant cues.

category / organisational dependent cues

• providing cues that relate to the organisation / category of memories may aid recall, as its easier find a file if the draws are labelled.

• the most effective cues have fewer things associated with them.

• the lack of organisation/ category cues may inhibit memory.

evaluation for category / organisational dependent cues

tulving and pealstone (1966)

tulving and pealstone (1966)

asked participants to learn 48 words. the participants either used free recall (answering in any order) or recall to match 12 4 word categories.

• it was found participants recalled significantly more in the category condition.

• this suggests the categories acted as cues and aiding recall