forgetting: interference

• P: one issue with the evidence offered in support of both pro and retroactive interference concerns the methodology of the studies

  E: most of this research has often used artificial lists of words and/or nonsense syllables. thus the findings may not relate to everyday uses of memory, which tends not to involve word lists. in addition, participants may lack motivation to remember the links in such studies, and this may allow interference effects to appear stronger than they really are.
• link for artificial research

  L: this means that the research is low in ecological validity although the counterargument is that interference effcts have been observed in everyday situations
• P: another criticism of research into interference is that, while interference effects do occur in everyday life, they dont occur that often

  E: special conditions are required for interference to lead to forgetting - the two memories need to be quite similar. for this reason interference is considered an unimportant explanation for everyday forgetting. Anderson concluded that there is no doubt interference plays a role in forgetting

  L: this means that other theories are needed to provide a complete explanation of forgetting
• P: researchers have often questioned whether interference effects actually cause a memory to disappear or whether interference effects are just temporary

  E: ceraso found that if memory was tested again after 24 hours, recognition showed considerable spontaneous recovery, whereas recall remained the same. this suggests that interference occurs because memories are temporarily not accessible rather than having actually been lost.

  L: this research supports the view that interference affects availability rather than accessibility