interference

• what is interference

  forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten
• what is interference an explanation for

  an explanation for forgetting in long-term memory
• what are the types of interference

  proactive interference

  retroactive interference
• what is proactive interference (PI)

  when an older memory interferes with a new memory
• example of proactive interference

  a teacher who has learned so many names in the past has difficulty remembering the names of her current class
• what is retroactive interference (RI)

  when a newer memory interferes with an older one
• example of retroactive interference

  your teacher has learned so many new names this year she has difficulty remembering names of her past students
• who researched the effects of similarity

  McGeoch and McDonald (1931)
• procedure of McGeoch and McDonald

  they studied retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between two sets of material

  participants has to learn a list of 10 words until 100% recall accuracy

  then 6 groups of participants learnt a new list
• group 1

  synonyms- words with same meanings as the originals
• group 2

  antonyms- words with opposite meanings to the originals
• group 3


  words unrelated to the originals
• group 4

  consonant syllables
• group 5

  three-digit numbers
• group 6

  no new list- acted as the control group and just rested
• findings of McGeoch and McDonald

  when the participants were asked to recall the original list of words, the most similar material (synonyms) = the worst recall
• what does the research of McGeoch and McDonald show

  shows that interference is strongest when the memories are similar

  
• explanation of the effects of similarity

  the reasons similarity affects recall may be one of two reasons:

  due to PI- previously stored information makes new similar information more difficult to store

  due to RI- new information overwrites previous similar memories because of similarity
• strengths of interference

  research support and evidence ( Baddely and Hitch )

  real world application

  validity
• procedure of Baddeley and Hitch's (1977) research about interference

  asked rugby players to recall names of the teams they has played against during a rugby season

  all players played for the same time interval (one season ) but the number of intervening games varied due to injuries
• findings of Baddeley and Hitch

  players who played the most games= poorest recall (most interference of memory)
• what does the research of Baddeley and Hitch show

  shows that interference can operate in at least some real-world situations

  increases validity of interference theory
• limitations of theory of interference

  interference is unusual in everyday situations - rare that the conditions needed occur

  suggests forgetting may be better explained by other theories like retrieval failure

  interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues