Lesson 8 Forgetting Interference

Question 1

Forgetting

Answer 1

The term forgetting is used to refer to a person’s loss of ability to recall or recognise something that they have previously learned.

Question 2

Interference Theory

Answer 2

Interference theory claims that forgetting occurs when two lots of information become confused in memory. Interference is more likely to occur when the two lots of information are similar to one another. Inference is less likely to occur when there is a gap between the instances of learning.

Question 3

Retroactive Interference

Answer 3

Retroactive interference is when new learning affects the recall of old information.

Question 4

Proactive Interference

Answer 4

Proactive interference is when old learning affects the recall of new information.

Question 5

Advantages of Interference Theory

Answer 5

+ Keppel and Underwood (1962) investigated proactive interference. Participants were presented with meaningless three-letter consonant trigrams (for example, THG) at different intervals (3, 6, 9, seconds etc.). To prevent rehearsal the participants had to count backwards in threes before recall. The participants typically remembered the trigrams that were presented first. Keppel and Underwood concluded that the memory for earlier trigrams was interfering with the memory for later trigrams.

+ McGeoch and McDonald (1931) demonstrated retroactive interference. They gave participants lists of words that they had to learn until they could recall them with 100% accuracy. Participants then learned a new list. This new list was either synonyms (words with similar meanings to the words on the original list) or antonyms (words unrelated to the original list). Participants were then asked to remember the original list. Participants given the list of synonyms had the worst recall of the original list. Learning a second list of words that have similar meanings to the first list of words would cause retroactive interference

+ This theory has practical applications. Students should be made aware of this theory so that they do not attempt to revise similar content/subjects at the same time, as this will make interference more likely to occur

Question 6

Disadvantages of Interference Theory

Answer 6

• When interference occurs the loss of information may only be temporary, therefore interference is not a true explanation for forgetting because the information is not actually over-written and is still in Long-Term Memory (LTM).
• Some psychologists argue that retrieval failure is a much better explanation of forgetting in everyday life than interference. This theory states that we forget when there are not enough retrieval cues to help us remember. Godden and Baddeley (1975) got divers to learn and recall word lists on either dry land or underwater. Results showed that words learnt and recalled in the same context were better remembered as there were retrieval cues in the environment to help them remember the words