EXPLANATIONS FOR FORGETTING

• What is interference?

  Occurs when one memory disrupts (or interferes with) our ability to recall another.
• • Interference is most likely to occur when the information is similar.
  • Two types of interference have been identified.
• Retroactive interference occurs because the later memory task interferes with the recall of the original associated memory.

  E.g. Remembering your new tutor group, not your year 3 class
• Proactive interference occurs because the original memory interferes with the information of the new associated memory.

  E.g. Remembering your year 3 class instead of your new tutor group.
• What is retrieval failure?


  Argued that an absence of cues may make it difficult for us to retrieve information from LTM even if it is still stored.
• What is retrieval failure due to absence of cues?


  Occurs when a memory is available but we cannot access it because we don't have the necessary 'triggers' or cues to do so.

  This is because when memories are initially coded, we also often code where we were at the time the information was learned or how we felt. In the same way that our memory is often triggered by returning to the context or state in which we first experienced a memory, we will also often forget information (or fail to retrieve it) when these cues are not present at the time of retrieval (or recall).
• What is context dependant forgetting?


  An inability to retrieve a memory due to an absence of environmental triggers (or cues) at the time of retrieval.
• What is state dependant forgetting?

  Is an inability to retrieve a memory due to being in a different mental state at the time of retrieval to that when the memory was initially coded.
• What is a strength of retrieval failure explanation of forgetting?

  Real world applications - can be used to reduce forgetting in the real world. Evidence for this comes from Smith (1979) who showed that just thinking of the room where you did the original learning (context reinstatement) was as effective as actually being in the same room at the time of retrieval. 

  -might help people recall information more easily.
• What is a strength of retrieval failure explanation of forgetting?


  Evidence to support - Goodwin et al (1969) - They found that male volunteers who learned a list of words whilst drunk or sober forget most when their learning state did not match their state on retrieval (e.g. those that learnt the list drunk performed worse when sober on recall). It was concluded that state-dependent forgetting applies to degrees of intoxication as well as emotion.

  -evidence from a variety of different states for this explanation of forgetting too.
• What is a strength of retrieval failure explanation of forgetting?

  Evidence to support - Abernethy (1940) found that if participants learned information from an instructor in one room and then were tested; they forgot more when they were tested in a different room by a different instructor. Godden and Baddeley (1975) found that scuba divers who learned a word list either on land or underwater forgot most when the learning context did not match the retrieval context.

  -research supports the view that retrieval failure occurs in a range of contexts.
• What is a strength of interference explanations of forgetting?


  Evidence to support PI - Underwood (1957) - after analysing the results of a number of studies (meta-analysis), that when participants have to learn a series of word lists, they do not learn the lists given later on as well as the lists given earlier on in the series. It was concluded that the earlier word lists were disrupting the learning of the new material in the later word lists.

  -Supports the idea of proactive interference in the learning of words
• What is a strength of interference explanations of forgetting?


  Evidence to support RI - McGeogh and McDonald (1931) - found that, when participants had learned a word list with 100% accuracy and were then given one of a range of new lists to memorise; the more similar the new list was, the poorer their recall of the original list. Concluded that even strong memories can be disrupted by new learning if the new learning is similar.

  -Supports the strong effects of RI.
• What is a weakness of interference explanations of forgetting?


  Research to support uses meaningless materials - This means that, although there is a large number of controlled lab studies showing evidence of RI and PI occurring, the materials they use don't reflect the kinds of information we use our memory for in the real-world. E.g. remembering lists of words, nonsense syllables or numbers doesn't reflect real-life memory activities where what we're trying to remember is often more meaningful and varied.

  -Findings may not be representative of real-life forgetting.