Interference

• what is interference?

  two pieces of information disrupting each other resulting in forgetting/distortion.
• does interference mainly explain forgetting in LTM or STM?

  LTM.
• what are the two types of interference?

  • proactive. • retroactive.
• what is proactive interference?

  old memories interfering with new ones.
• what is retroactive interference?

  new memories interfering with old ones.
• in both types of interference what characteristic worsens its effect?

  similarity.
• what research has been done into the effect of similarity on interference?

  McGeoch and McDonald

  
  

  participants learnt 10 words until they were remembered with 100% accuracy.

  
  

  spilt into 6 groups, they were asked to learn another 10 words. the groups : synonyms of 1, antonyms of 1, unrelated to 1, consonant syllables, three digit numbers, nothing

  
  

  they were then asked to recall list 1

  
  

  it was concluded that the group that the group with the synonyms had worst recall, reinforcing the idea of similarity effecting interference.
• name two strengths of the theory of inference as an explaination of forgetting.

  • real life applications • support from drug studies and underwood.
• name three weaknesses of inference as a explanation for forgetting.

  • the use of cues • lack of ecological validity. it can only explain forgetting when memories are similar to other memories.
• elaborate on real life applications as a strength of inference as an explanation of forgetting.

  Baddeley and Hitch 1977• asked rugby players to recall names of teams they had played in previous seasons. • players that hadn't missed any matches/played the most (experienced more inference) had the poorest recall.
• elaborate on support from drug studies as a strength of inference as an explanation of forgetting.

  Coenen and Van luijtelaar 1997 gave participants lists of words to remember and later asked them to recall. when words were learnt under the influence recall was poorer than those who recieved a placebo. when words were learnt before the diazepam was taken recall was stronger than a placebo.

  
  

  Wixted 2004 suggested the drug prevented new information reaching areas of the brain involved in memory processing, therefore reducing inference. implying reduced influence = reduced forgetting.
• what research did underwood do into interference?

  in 1957 he aimed to investigate the effect of learning multiple other word lists on participants recall of the most recently learnt list, looking at past studies. he found participants who only had to learn one list had 80% accuracy 24 hours later but those who learnt multiple had only 20% accuracy for the last list. this supports proactive interference as the earlier word lists interfered with the later one.
• what other research did underwood conduct to support interference?

  underwood and potsman 1960 they performed a lab experiment where a group of participants were split into 2 groups, both learning a list of paired words. one group then learnt a second list of words where the first word in the pairs were the same and the second different. recall was significantly worse for the second group as the first list caused retroactive interference.
• elaborate on the use of cues as a weakness for interference as an explanation of forgetting.

  interference can be overcome with cues as demonstrated by Tulving and Psotka 1971.• they gave participants lists of words organised into categories.• recall was around 70% for the first list but deteriorated progressively. • when given cues (names of the categories) recall rose back to 70% for all lists. showing inferences only causes temporary loss of material.
• elaborate on the weakness of ecological validity of inference as an explanation of forgetting.

  • most studies are lab based and use artificial materials and unrealistic procedures.• e.g. conditions for inference are very rare but the high degree of control in lab studies creates ideal conditions. • ecological validity refers to the extent at which the findings can be generalised to real life settings.