explanations for forgetting :interference

• Proactive interference- past learning interferes with current attempts to learn something

  for example if i learnt french last year i might mix it up/interfere with my current spanish words
• research into proactive interference

  Underwood 

  pps given 10 or more world lists to learn only remembered 20%

  Just one list 70%

  the previously learnt word lists interfered making it harder to remember words
• Interference occurs when the recall of one memory blocks the recall of another, causing forgetting or distorted perceptions of these memories. Interference can be retroactive or proactive
• Retroactive interference-current attempts to learn something interferes with past learning
• research into retroactive interference

  Muller and pilzecker 

  • The gave participants a list of nonsense syllables to learn and asked them to recall them after a retention interval
  • Some recalled straight away some given an intervening task (describing picture of a landscape)
  • those recalling straight away perfomed better
  • The later task interfered with what had previously been learnt 
• methodological criticisms

  • The studies used to support the interference theory are lab based. This means the researcher controlled all the variables which can increase the validity as it minimises extraneous variables
  • however this means using artificial materials and unrealistic procedures for example learning meaningless word lists/consonants (like in underwoo/m an ) doesn't reflect the material you would actually be leanring in real life
  • A second methodological criticism further suggesting that they lack mundane realism and reliability, often conducted in very short spaces of time, recalling 1 or 2 hours after learning. does not reflect the normal passage of time in everyday life, often several days pass until we need to recall e.g. exam. Therefore, this suggests that interference is unlikely to be a valid explanation for forgetting from the LTM.
• However there have been studies from real life scenarios which could support the ecological validity fo this study.baddeley and hitch asked rugby players to recall names of teams they had played in the season. They found that players who had played more games during the season recalled fewer early season team names than those who had played fewer games due to injury. These results support the idea of retroactive inference, as the learning of new information (new team names) interfered with the memory of old information (earlier team names). This study provides real-world evidence/support for the interference theory of forgetting. 
• Advertising can benefit from the research, as research has found that if adverts are similar, people won’t remember them this phenomenon is known as competitive interference. Danaher et al., (2008) found that both recall and recognition of an advertiser’s message were impaired when participants were exposed to two advertisements for competing brands in the same week.

  This knowledge is beneficial for marketers as it helps them think of practical ways to overcome this problem. By ensuring adverts are spaced out significantly far apart from the airing of rivak brands (instead of being exposed to many adverts in a short time frame),the degree of forgetting individual adverts decreases and there campaigns will be even more effective.