Forgetting

Question 1

what is proactive interference?

Answer 1

older memory interferes with newer one.

Question 2

what is retroactive interference?

Answer 2

new memory interferes with older one.

Question 3

Who studied interference?

Answer 3

McGeoch and McDonald studied retroactive interference.

Question 4

How did McGeoch and McDonald study retroactive interference?

Answer 4

Participants memorised a list of 10 words until they get them 100% correct, they then learned a different list of words. There were 6 groups.
synonyms, antonyms, words unrelated to the original one, nonsense syllables, three-digit numbers, no new list - these participants just rested.
Synonyms produced the worst recall.

Question 5

Evaluate interference.

Answer 5

1. strength - most findings were found in a lab. McGeoch and McDonald. increases validity and decreases extraneous variables.
2. weakness - use of artificial stimulus, lists of random words is unnatural. interference may be more prominent in a lab.

Question 6

what is the theory of retrieval failure?

Answer 6

a form of forgetting where we don’t have the necessary cues.

Question 7

What is the encoding specificity principle (ESP)?

Answer 7

if the cue you used to remember the information is different to the cue you use to recall it then you will have difficulty accessing the information.

Question 8

Who studied context dependant forgetting and what did they do?

Answer 8

Godden and Baddeley, gave deep sea divers a list of words they had to remember and then got them to recall the words in 4 different groups in 4 settings; learn on land, recall on land; learn on land, recall underwater; learn underwater, recall on land; learn underwater, recall underwater.
recall was 40% lower in settings that didn’t match.

Question 9

Who studied state dependant forgetting and what did they do?

Answer 9

Carter and Cassaday, gave antihistamines to their participants which have a mild sedative effect, creating an internal physiological state different from being “normal”.
The groups were;
learn on drug, recall on drug; learn on drug, recall off drug; learn off drug, recall off drug; learn off drug, recall on drug.
when the cues are different there is more forgetting.