interference

• interference

  forgetting because one memory blocks another causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten
• proactive interference

  occurs when an older memory interferes with a newer one

  e.g. your teacher has learned so many names in the past, she has difficulty remembering the names of her current class.
• retroactive interference

  occurs when a newer memory interferes with an older one.

  e.g. your teacher has learned so many new names this year that they have forgotten the names of her old classes.
• effects of similarity

  interference is worse when the memories are similar.
• Research on effects of similarity - procedure

  McGeoch + McDonald - studied retroactive interference by changing the level of similarity between materials.

  Gave participants a list of 10 words to learn until memorised.

  Then they learnt a new list, different participants had different types of lists.

  -> group 1 = synonyms

  -> group 2 = antonyms

  -> group 3 = words unrelated to originals

  -> group 4 = consonant syllables

  -> group 5 = 3 digit numbers

  -> group 6 = no new list
• research on effects of similarity - findings + conclusions

  when participants asked to recall the original list, the participants who learnt the most similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall

  shows interference is strongest when memories are similar.
• strength - real world interference

  evidence for interference effects in everyday situations.

  Baddeley + Hitch

  asked rugby players to recall names of teams they had played against in the season - number of games varied between players due to injury

  players who played the most games, had the poorest recall (had most interference)

  increased validity
• counterpoint - real world interference

  interference may cause forgetting in everyday situations but it is unusual

  conditions needed for interference are rare.

  unlike lab studies where there is high level of control and ideal conditions.

  memories have to be similar to be interfered with which is occasional in everyday life.

  suggests other explanations may be better.
• limitation - interference + cues

  interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues.

  Tulving + Psotka

  gave participants a list of words organised into categories. (PPs not told the categories)

  recall started at 70% but decreased as they had to learn more lists.

  at the end of the procedure, PPs were told the categories and recall rose again.

  interference causes temporary loss.
• strength - support from drug studies

  evidence of retrograde facilitation

  Participants were given a list of words and then were asked to recall them later.

  Found that when a list of words was learned under the influence of drug diazepam, it was recalled poorer one week later compared to control group.

  When list was learned before the drug was taken, recall was better than placebo.

  suggests drugs prevents new information reaching the brain for processing memory.