explanations for forgetting- interference

What does forgetting mean ?

when learnt info can’t be retrieved

In the STM , why would forgetting occur ?

due to availability problem , either displaced or faded away

In the LTM , why would forgetting occur?

either decay (availability problem)

or because it’s hard to retrieve (accessibility problem )

or the information is confused (interference problem)

what is proactive interference ?

old memory interfering with a new mermory 

what is retro active memory ?

new memory interfering with old memory

when is interference more likely ?

if info is similar

give one study where interference as an explanation for forgetting was investigated ?

Henk Schmidt (2000)

give one study that investors the effect of similarity on interference ?

McGeoch and McDonald (1931)

In short , give evaluative points for interference on forgetting .

• strength - research support

• strength - practical applications 

• weakness - supporting studies use artificial settings and tasks 

Describe Mcgeoch and McDonald’s procedure and findings ?

procedure

> studied retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between two sets of materials. 

> p’s learnt list of 10 words until 100% recall accuracy 

> 6 groups learnt different new lists 

• synonyms 

• antonyms 

• words unrelated to the original list 

• consonant syllables 

• three digit numbers 

• no new list - control condition 

findings 

> recal of original list was less accurate when new list was most similar to the original .

interference is strongest when memories are similar