interference theory

• What is Interference theory?

  One memory disrupts the ability to learn a similar one.
• What is Retroactive Interference?


  Current attempts to learn interfere with past learning
• What is a study into Retroactive Interference?

  Muller and Pilzecker - gave ppts a list of nonsense syllables to learn for 6 mins,

  • retention interval after, some given intervening task (asked to describe paintings) and asked to recall original word list
  • If given intervening task between initial learning and recall, performed worse
• A03: Artificial research

  Uses artificial word lists and syllables

  • doesn’t relate to everyday real life tasks
  • ppts may lack motivation to remember words
  • lacks ecological validity
• What is Proactive interference?

  When past learning interferes with current attempts to learn.
• What is a study into Proactive Interference?

  Underwood - conducted meta analysis of studies where ppts asked to remember word lists

  • if asked to remember 10 or more - 20%
  • if asked to remember 1 - 70%
• A03: Real-world application

  Baddeley and Hitch - asked rugby players to recall all opponent teams in a rugby season

  • some players played in all games, some didn’t
  • players who played in all games remembered less due to proactive interference
• A03: Interference theory only explains some situations

  Interference theory only occurs when the two memories are similar

  • Anderson - interference does play a role in forgetting, but it is unclear how much forgetting is due to interference
• A03: Accessibility vs Availability

  Ceraso - if memory was tested again after 24 hours, accessibility showed significant spontaneous recovery while availability stayed the same

  • suggests that interference occurs because memories are temporarily inaccessible rather than being unavailable