lesson 09 - explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive interference

define interference

interference theory suggests that we forget things not because they disappear from memory, but because other memories get in the way and make it harder to retrieve them. it explains forgetting as a result of memory competition rather than memory loss. one memory blocks another, causing the other memory to be forgotten

define proactive interference

forgetting occurs when older memories, already stored, disrupt the recall of newer memories. the degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar

define retroactive interference

forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored. the degree of forgetting is again greater when the memories are similar.

describe mcgeoch and mcdonald’s study on whether retroactive interference is worse when memories are similar

participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember with 100% accuracy

there were 6 groups:

• synonyms

• antonyms

• unrelated words

• consonant symbols

• three-digit numbers

• control

they found that when the participants were asked to recall the original list, the most similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall. this shows that interference is strongest when the memories are similar

describe baddley and hitch’s study on the memory of rugby players

they interviewed rugby players and asked them to recall the names of the teams they had played against during a particular rugby season. the players all played for the same overall time interval across the season, but the number of games they played varied from player to player because some missed matches due to injury

they found that players who played the most games (more chances of interference) had the poorest recall

describe tulving and psotka’s study on categorised word lists

participants were given a list of words organised into categories, one list at a time, but were not told what the categories were. participants’ recall of each list was tested immediately after being exposed to the list

they found that recall averaged about 79% for the first list but became progressively worse as participants leaned each additional list. this demonstrates proactive interference as words from earlier lists interfered with recall from more recent lists, causing higher levels of forgetting. however, at the end of the procedure the participants were given the names of the categories. recall rose again to about 70% per list. this shows that interference only causes temporary forgetting but the use of cues overcame this.

justify evidence for forgetting interference

lab experiments - low mundane realism, unrealistic materials and unrealistic situation (no distractions etc); rugby study is real life

triangulation