Interference - Forgetting

Question 1

What is interference theory?

Answer 1

Interference theory is when forgetting occurs because different memories compete with each other making it harder to retrieve the correct information.

Question 2

What are the two types of interferences?

Answer 2

Proactive interference and retroactive interference.

Question 3

What does proactive interference mean?

Answer 3

Proactive interference occurs when older memories interfere with the recall of newer information.

Question 4

What does retroactive interference mean?

Answer 4

Retroactive interference occurs when newer information interferes with the recall of older memories.

Question 5

State the procedure and findings of the research effects of similarity

Answer 5

Research by McGeoch and McDonald asked participants to learn a list of words and then learn a second list. The second list varied in similarity to the first (such as synonyms, unrelated words, or numbers). Recall of the first list was worse when the second list was most similar, showing that interference is stronger when information is similar.

Question 6

State one strength of evidence of interference

Answer 6

Real world evidence made by Baddeley and Hitch when they asked ruby players to recall the names of teams they had played against before. Players who played the most games had poorest recall.

Question 7

What is a counterpoint to the strength of the evidence of interference?

Answer 7

Interference can be rare in everyday situations compared to lab studies where it is highly controlled. As well as other theories such as retrieval failure due to lack of cues.

Question 8

What is one limitation of interference?

Answer 8

Interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues. Tulving and Psotka did a procedure. Their findings was that recall averaged 70% for the first list of words learnt but become worse overtime with each new list. At the end of the test, participants were given cues. Cued recall rose to about 70% again.

Question 9

What is another strength in support from drug studies?

Answer 9

Research by Coenen and Van Luijtelaar found that drugs affecting brain activity can reduce interference effects and improve memory recall. This suggests that forgetting can be due to interference - external or internal.