What is interference?
Forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to become distorted
What is proactive interference?
Forgetting occurs because an older memory disrupts the recall of a newer memory
What is retroactive interference?
Forgetting occurs because a newer memory disrupts the recall of an older memory
What are the 2 types of interference?
- Proactive interference
- Retroactive interference
What did McGeoch and McDonald research?
Effects of similarity on forgetting
What was McGeoch and McDonald’s procedure?
- Studied retroactive interference by changing amount of similarity between material
- Participants learnt a list of 10 words
- They learnt a new list (synonyms, antonyms, words unrelated to OG ones, consonant syllables, 3 digit numbers, no new list)
What did McGeoch and McDonald find and conclude?
- When asked to recall OG list, most similar material (synonyms) produced worst recall
- Shows interference is strongest when memories are similar
What are the strengths of the interference theory?
- Real-world interference
- Support from drug studies
What are the limitations of the interference theory?
- Unlikely in real life
- Interference and cues
STRENGTH- Real-world interference
I= there is evidence of interference effects in everyday situations
D= Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to recall names of teams they played against. All played for same time interval, but number of intervening games varied. Players who played most games had poorest recall
E= shows interference can operate in real-world situations, increasing validity
LIMITATION- Unlikely in real life
I= interference may cause some forgetting in everyday life but this is unusual
D= conditions necessary for interference to occur are relatively rare. Unlike lab studies where high degree of control means researchers can create ideal conditions. Memories have to be similar to interfere with each other
E= suggests most forgetting can be better explained by retrieval failure due to lack of cues
STRENGTH- Support from drug studies
I= support comes from evidence of retrograde facilitation
D= Coenon and Luijtelaar gave paticipants word lists, and asked them to recall later on, assuming intervening experiences would act as interference. When lists were learned under the influence of diazepam, recall one week later was poor. When list was learned before the drug was taken, later recall was better than placebo group. Wixted suggests the drug prevents new info reaching parts of the brain, involved in processing memories
E= shows forgetting can be due to interference; reduce interference, and you reduce the forgetting
LIMITATION- Interference can be overcome
I= interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues
D= Tulving and Psotka gave participants word lists, organised into categories, one list at a time. Recall averaged 70% for list 1, but declined for each new list. Participants then given a cued recall test- 70% recall
E= this shows interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material in the LTM
EVALUATION EXTRA- Validity issues
Strength- Supporting studies have strict control over variables, which avoids confoudning variables. Findings demonstrate clear links between interference and forgetting
Limitation- Lab studies use artificial materials and unrealistic procedures, e.g. time between learning and recall is short (10-20 mins), so unlike real life forgetting
E- Lab studies are limited as they may exaggerate the importance of interference
