Interference Theory

• What theory explains forgetting in long-term memory (LTM)?

  Interference theory
• What happens during interference in LTM?

  One memory disrupts recall of another memory
• How many types of interference have psychologists suggested?

  Two types
• What is proactive interference?

  Older memory interferes with newer memory
• How might a teacher experience proactive interference?

  By forgetting current students' names
• What is retroactive interference?

  Newer memory interferes with older memory
• How might a teacher experience retroactive interference?

  By forgetting past students' names
• How does similarity affect interference?

  Interference is worse with similar memories
• Who conducted research on interference and similarity?

  McGeoch & McDonald
• What was the procedure in McGeoch & McDonald's (1931) research?

  • Participants learned a list of 10 words
  • Divided into six groups with different second lists:

  1. Synonyms
  2. Antonyms
  3. Unrelated words
  4. Nonsense syllables
  5. Three-digit numbers
  6. No new list

  • Participants recalled the original list
• What did McGeoch & McDonald conclude about interference?

  Interference is strongest with similar memories
• What was the outcome when participants learned synonyms?

  They had the worst recall of original words
• What is a weakness of research into interference theory

  Weakness = evidence  some ppl less affected by interference than others. E.g Kane & Engle (2000) demonstrated those w a greater working memory span = less susceptible to proactive interference. Tested this by giving participants three lists of words to learn. Found  pts w lower working memory spans showed signs of proactive interference when recalling  second + third lists whereas participants w higher working memory spans did not. Suggests that there are individual differences in susceptibility to interference.
• What is a weakness of research into interference theory

  Weakness = evidence used to support proactive + retroactive interference comes mainly from lab experiments. These experiments use artificial stimulus materials - Very diff to types of things individuals try to remember in everyday life. Also, pts may lack motivation to remember infoin a lab study - no consequence for forgetting it. Suggests research used to support interference theory = low in ecological validity - findings cannot be generalised to real life settings.
• What is a strength of interference theory

  Strength = evidence of interference in real life settings. E.g Baddelely & Hitch (1977) asked pts who played a varying number of rugby union games to remember as many of the teams they had played against as possible. Interference theory tested by assessing how recall was affected by no. of games played. Found - forgetting due more to no. games played rather than time passed between games, supporting interference theory.