Explanations For Forgetting

• What are the two types of interference discussed?

  Proactive and retroactive interference
• What does proactive interference involve?

  Old information interferes with new information
• What does retroactive interference involve?

  New information disrupts recall of old information
• What makes interference more likely to occur?

  Similarity of information and time sensitivity
• What did Schmidt's research demonstrate?

  Retroactive interference with street names
• What was the finding of Greenberg and Underwood's research?

  Recall decreased with more learned word lists
• What is cue-dependent forgetting?

  Information is inaccessible without correct cues
• What is the encoding specificity principle?

  Contextual information is encoded with memories
• What are context-dependent cues?

  Cues from the external environment
• What did Godden and Baddeley's study demonstrate?

  Recall is better in the same environment
• What are state-dependent cues?

  Cues from internal emotional or physical states
• What did Overton's research find about state-dependent cues?

  Recall is better in the same state
• What are category-dependent cues?

  Cues linked to organized information categories
• What did Tulving and Pearlstone's study show?

  Categorized recall is significantly better
• What are practical applications of forgetting research?

  Revision strategies and eyewitness testimony
• What is a limitation of interference theory?

  It may not explain all types of forgetting
• Why might interference theory lack validity?

  Research often uses artificial tasks