Retroactive Inhibition and Interference

Flashcards based on the lecture transcript regarding Retroactive Inhibition, covering interference types, the competition theory, the two-factor theory, and key studies by Briggs, Tulving, and Thorton.

Interference

An explanation for forgetting in long term memory which states that forgetting occurs because memories interfere with and disrupt one another.

Proactive interference

Occurs when you cannot learn a new task because of an old task that had been learnt, where old memories disrupt new memories.

Retroactive interference

Occurs when you forget a previously learnt task due to the learning of a new task, where new memories disrupt old memories.

Pro

The prefix in proactive interference which means forward.

Retro

The prefix in retroactive interference which means backward.

Similarity effect in interference

The principle that interference is more likely to occur when memories are similar, such as confusing old and new telephone numbers.

Competition theory of retroactive inhibition

Proposed in the late $1930s$ and early $1940s$, suggesting forgetting occurs because new information competes with and disrupts the recall of old information.

McGooch and his associates

The researchers who proposed the competition theory of retroactive inhibition.

Greater strength of new associations

An explanation for retroactive inhibition where connections formed for new information are stronger than older ones, causing old memories to weaken.

Mutual blocking of old and new associations

Occurs when old and new information interfere with each other, making it difficult to recall either clearly, such as when learning different musical instrument techniques.

Confusion between old and new components

Occurs when new information is similar to or overlaps with old information, such as mixing up steps from two similar dance routines.

Two-factor theory of forgetting

Suggests that forgetting happens because of two main processes: response competition and unlearning.

Response competition

A process in the two-factor theory where new information interferes with the ability to remember original information, like a new password coming to mind over an old one.

Unlearning

A process in the two-factor theory where new information replaces or erases the old information in the mind.

Modified free recall (MFR)

A technique introduced in the $1950s$ where participants are given a cue or category label to help organize and recall items from a list.

Modified modified free recall (MMFR)

Similar to MFR but includes an additional step where participants must recall the items in the specific order they were presented.

Briggs ($1954$) study

Explored retroactive interference by having participants learn pairs of words and observing how new pairs (e.g., apple-car) interfered with original pairs (e.g., apple-boat).

Spontaneous recovery

The recovery of old memories over time, as seen in Briggs' study when participants could remember original pairs better after a $24$-hour delay.

Tulving and Thorton ($1959$) study

Investigated how learning between $1$ and $5$ lists of words affects the recall of the first list studied.

Tulving and Thorton's finding

The more lists a person learned, the worse their recall was for the first list they had studied.

Long term memory distortion

The idea that information becomes confused or combined with other information during encoding, distorting the memory.

MFR Categorization

Using a cue (e.g., fruits) after presenting a list to help participants organize and recall specific items like fruits.

$1950s$ Psychological Techniques

The decade when MFR and MMFR were developed to attempt to separate response competition from unlearning.

Briggs' interference task

A procedure where learners must provide the second word when given a first word cue (e.g., boat $\rightarrow$ apple).

Retroactive Inhibition (RI)

Another name for retroactive interference, involving the disruption of old information by new information.