Explanations for forgetting

• Interference theory - forgetting occurs due to two memories competing. There are two types of interference, proactive and retroactive.
• Proactive - when already stored information interferes with an attempt to store new information 


  Peterson and Peterson (1959) - previously learnt trigrams interferes with later learnt trigrams.

  Murdock (1961) - less forgetting when one word was recalled rather than three words.
• Retroactive - when new information interferes with old information that is already stored

  Postman (1960) - list if paired works to two groups of participants. The experimental given was given a second word list which had the same first word of each word pair but a different second word. The control group weren’t given a second word list. Participants had to recall the words on the first list. The recall of the control group was more accurate.
• STRENGTHS - interference

  supporting real life research:

  • Baddley and Hitch (1977) asked rugby players to try and remember the names of teams they played that season week by week. Recall was affected by how many games they had played, supporting retroactive.
  • McGeoch and McDonald (1931) participants to learn a list of 10 words and then asked to learn a new list. 6 different groups. Groups with similar words meanings had the worst recall, supports retroactive interference. Methodological issues as it was carried out in a controlled environment.
• LIMITATIONS - interference

  Application - doesn’t account for all types of forgetting. For interference to occur memories need to be similar which doesn’t occur often.

  Individual differences - Kane and Eagle (2000) found that individuals with a greater working memory span were less susceptible to proactive interference.
• Retrieval failure due to absence of cues - we forget because we lack the correct prompts or cues to recall the information. Cues can be contextual or state. This is the encoding specificity principle. Cues that were present at the time of learning need to also be present at retrieval. The cue doesn’t have to be exactly right, but the closer the cue is to the original item, the more useful.
• Context dependent forgetting - we forget if we do not have the same context cues during retrieval that were present when learning the information.


  Godden and Baddley (1975) - got a group of divers to learn a set of words either under water or on land. They then recalled the list of words in the same conditions they learnt the words or recalled in a different context. Recall was greatest when the same context was used. 40% more words were forgotten if recall took place in a different environment than learnt.
• State Dependent Recall - we forget if we do not have the same state cues during retrieval that were present when learning the information.

  Goodwin et al (1969) - investigated how our mental state affects recall. Volunteers for remembering a list of words when they were drunk or sober. Asked to recall the list 24 hours later either in the same state as learnt or not. We are more likely to remember information if we recall in the same state we learnt it. Physiological state can act as a cue.
• STRENGTHS - absence of cues

  Practical applications - cognitive interview asks a person to remember details. This is contextual reinstatement, cues can trigger to improve memory. Context reconstruction has been used in TV programmes such as Crimewatch, when events are reconstructed potential witnesses may come forward.

  Supporting research - Baker et al (2004) found context was useful in recall. Participants were more likely to remember when they chewed gum when learning a list of words and recalling it.
• LIMITATIONS - absence of cues

  Incomplete explanation - some memories may be more significant so easily remembered. Fits in with flashbulb memory and contradicts the contextual or state cue retrieval.

  Issues with research - Godden and Baddeley (1980) replicated their underwater study and asked participants if they recognised a word. They found no difference between the four conditions. Questions the extent which forgetting is due to lack of cues, this may only occur when tested a certain way.