Interference

Define forgetting

A persons loss of the ability to recall or recognise something that they have previously learned

What are the two types of forgetting?

• interference

• Retrieval failure

Define interference

• when two memories became mixed up or interfere with each other so that one of the memories becomes distorted or forgotten, cannot be recalled

• More likely to occur when the memories are similar

What are the two types of interference?

• retroactive

• Proactive

Define retroactive interference

Current attempt to learn something interfere with past learning

Define proactive interference

Past learning interferes with current attempts to learn something

What is the research support for retroactive interference?

P: Muller identified RI effects

E:

• Ps given list of nonsense syllables to learn in 6 mins

• Ps asked to recall lists after retention interval

• Performance decreased when Ps had an intervening task between initial learning and recall

T: intervening task produced RI - later task interfered with what had previously been learned

What is the research support for proactive interference?

P: Underwood showed PI could be equally significant

E:

• analysed multiple study findings

• Concluded when Ps had to lean a series of word lists, they fail to recall words encountered later on the list than earlier

T:

• Found if Ps learnt +10 lists, after 24hrs they remembered ~20% of what they learned

• Found if they learned only one list, recall was +70%

Describe the research on the effect of similarity

• gave Ps a list of 10 adjectives (List A)

• Once learnt learnt List B during a resting interval of 10 mins

• If List B synonyms of A - recall was poor (12%)

• If List B was numbers, this had the least effect - 37% recall

• Shows that interference is strongest the more similar the items are - only interference can explain such effects

How does artificial research refute interference? (AO3)

P: most research often uses artificial lists of words

E:

• findings may not relate to everyday uses of memory

• Ps may lack motivation to remember links in such studies - interference may appear stronger

T:

• tasks lack mundane realism & eco validity

• Counter argument - interference effects have been observed in everyday situations

How does accessibility support interference?

P: questioned whether interference effects actually cause a memory to disappear or just temporary

E:

• found if memory was tested again after 24hrs, accessibility showed considerable spontaneous recovery

• But availability remained the same

T:

• showed interference occurs due to temporary memories not accessible than actually lost

• Research supports the view that interference affects accessibility rather than availability