Explanations for forgetting: Interference

What is interference in memory

Interference occurs when two pieces of information conflict, leading to forgetting or distortion of one or both memories

How does interference explain forgetting in long term memory(LTM)

Forgetting in LTM happens because interference makes it harder to access memories, even though they are still available

When is interference most likely to occur

When two memories were stored at different times and are similar to each other

What is proactive interreference (PI)

Proactive interference= happens when older memories disrupt the recall of newer memories

Give an example of proactive interference

A teacher who has learned many studnets’ names in the past struggles to remember the names of her current class

What is retroactive interference (RI)

Retroactive interference happens to newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories

Give an example of retroactive interference

A teacher who has learned many new students’ names this year struggles to remember the names of previous students

How does similarity affect interference

The more similar the memories, the greater the interference by testing how similarity between two sets of materials affected recall

What did McGeoch and McDonald study?

They studied retroactive interreference by testing how similarity between two sets of materials affected recall

What were the findings of McGeoch and McDonald’s study

The most similar material produced the worst recall, showing that interreference is strongest when memories are similar

How does lab evidence support interference theory

Lab studies show that proactive and retroactive interreference are common causes of forgetting in LTM, and experiments have high control over variables, making results valid

What real-life study supports interference theory

Baddeley & Hitch found that rugby players recall of past teams depended on the number of games played, not the time since the games, supporting interference in real-life memory

What is a limitation of interreference studies in the lab

Lab studies use artificial materials (e.g. word lists), which makes interreference more likely meaning the findings may not apply to real-life memory

Why does the time between learning and recall matter in interference studies

In lab experiments, learning and recall occur within a short time, which may not reflect real life memory processes