Interference

Question 1

What is the Interference theory?

Answer 1

• Interference is when you forget because one memory blocks another, which causes one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten.
• Interference is an explanation for forgetting in LTM
• Information is permanently stored in LTM, so if we can not remember it, it is likely due to being unable to access it

Question 2

What are the types of interfernce?

Answer 2

• Proactive interference - forgetting occurs when older memories disrupt the recall of newer memories
• Retroactive interference - forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories
• The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar

Question 3

What study was conducted to explore the effects of similarity on interference?

Answer 3

• McGeoch & McDonald (1939) - aimed to investigate the effect of retroactive interference.
• Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy.
  -They then learned a new list of words; there were 6 different types of new lists compared to the original list
• Group 1 = Synonyms
• Group 2 = Antonyms
• Group 3 = Unrelated
• Group 4 = Consonant syllables
• Group 5 = 3 digit numbers
• Group 6 = control group (no new list - participants rested)

-When asked to recall the original list of words, group 1 performed the worst recall, which shows that interference is strongest when the memories are similar.

Question 4

(AO3) What is a strength of interference?

Answer 4

Support from Drug Studies:

• Coenen & Van Luijetaar (1997) - gave participants a list of words and later asked them to recall the list, assuming intervening events would interfere.
• They found that when a list of words was learned under the influence of diazepam, the recall was better.
• This finding shows that forgetting can be due to interference and by removing that interference, recall improves.

Question 5

(AO3) What is a weakness of interference?
(1)

Answer 5

Interference is unusual:

• The conditions necessary for interference to occur are relatively rare.
• This is unlike lab studies where the high degree of control means a researcher can create ideal conditions for inference.
• This suggests that most forgetting may be better explained by other theories, such as retrieval failure, due to a lack of cues.

Question 6

(AO3) What is a weakness of interference?
(2)

Answer 6

Interference is temporary and can be overcome with cues:

• Tulving & Psotka (1971) - gave participants lists of words and concluded that recall averaged about 70% for the first list, but became worse as participants learned each additional list.
• At the end of the procedure, the participants were told the names of the categories that the lists were sorted into, in which recall rose again to 70%.
• This shows that interference causes a temporary loss of memory accessibility to material that is still in the LTM, which is not predicted by the interference theory.