forgetting - interference

• Interference is when one memory disturbs the ability to recall another. This may result in the forgetting or distorting of memories.
• Proactive interference – previously learnt information interferes with the new information you are trying to store
• Retroactive interference – A new memory interferes with older ones
• Evidence has shown that the more similar the interference is to the words being remembered, the worst recall is.

  In this case, the words on the word had similar meanings to the second round of words. Therefore we would expect the similarity to interfere with our recall of the words = worse recall!
• Both PI and RI are worse when the memories are similar.

  Procedure:

  Pps learnt a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy.

  Then learned a new list (1 of 6 groups)

  • Synonyms – same meaning as original words
  • Antonyms – opposite meaning as original words
  • Unrelated words
  • Consonant syllables
  • 3 digit numbers
  • No new list
• Findings:

  When pps were asked to recall the original lists, the most similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall.

  Suggests that interference is strongest when memories are similar.

  This could be due to PI (previously stored info makes new similar info more difficult to store) or RI (new info overwrites previous  similar memories because of similarity.