explanation forgetting: Interference

• interference is when pieces of information disrupt each other, occurs in LTM as its hard to access memories even though they are available, causing forgetting
• proactive interference is when old information interferes with new information
• retroactive interference is when new memory interferes with old information(retro=new)
• interference is worse in both cases when information is similar
• McGeoch and McDonald study on effects of similarity
• pp asked to learn list of words to 100% accuracy, provided each group with a new list which varied in similarity
• new list was either synonym, antonym, unrelated word, constant syllable, 3 digit number, control group with no list
• when asked to recall original list, it depended on the similarity of second list, more similar the words, the worse the recall shows interference is strongest when memories are similar
• one strength is support in real world situations, Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to recall names of teams, they had played against, players who played most games (more new info) had worst recall than injured players, shows that iterference operates in daily life and increases validity
• weakness is lab studies for interference have high control of confounding variable which do not represent everyday forgetting, this means there may be an overestimation of interference being the cause of forgetting.
• another strength is support from drug studies, material recalled before taking a drug recalled better than a placebo group a week later, drug stopped new info from reaching area of brain that processes info, could not retroactively interference with stored info. shows that forgetting is due to interference