Interference Theory

• Interference Theory


  • suggests that forgetting occurs because one memory disrupts another which causes one or both memories to become distorted or forgotten
  • proactive interference is when old memories disrupt the recall of new memories , for e.g. an old phone number disrupts an attempt to recall a new phone number
  • retroactive interference is when new memories disrupt the recall of older memories, for e.g. when a new car resgistration prevents the recall of a previous one
• Research into interference theory

  • Ps learn two lists of word pairs where the first word of each pair is the same in both lists
  • after the lists are memories, Ps are given the first word and are asked to recall the paired word from either list one or list two
  • if Ps struggle to recall from list 1 then it is retroactive interference
  • if they struggle to recall from list 2 then it is proactive interference
  • AO3
  • lab experiments lacks mundane realism and does not relate in real life situations
  • using artificial tasks makes interference more likely that in real life
• Baddeley and Hitch


  • real life test to measure interferency
  • rugby players were asked to recall the names of teams they had played earlier in the season
  • some players missed certain games, leaving a measure of forgetting due to decay as opposed to interference from intervening games
  • the results showed that time was not a good predictor of forgetting
  • forgetting increased with the number of intervening games
  • they concluded that forgetting was due to interference rather than trace decay
• Limitation of Interference Theory

  • only really explains forgetting when two sets of information are similar
  • this doesnt occur very often and so it cannot explain the idea of forgetting in real life settings
• Alternative explanations


  • more research for cue dependent forgetting and trace decay