explanations for forgetting

• interference theory

  • when one memory distorts another
• what is proactive interference?

  • an old memory distort a new one
  • remembering old students names when having a new class
• what is retroactive interference?

  • a new memory distorts an old one
  • forgetting old students when having a new class
• retroactive interference research

  • MCGEOCH AND MCDONALD (1931)
  • participants learnt a list of adjectives until they could recall them perfectly
  • some then spent 10 mins resting and had the highest recall whilst the others learned similar material to the original
  • shows retroactive interference affects recall and indicates the more similar the material, the greater the interference
• retrieval failure

  • people forget information due to insufficient cues
  • forgetting in LTM is often due to cue failure
  • if someone gives you a hint the memory may return
• encoding specifically principle (ESP)

  • TULVING (1983) research into retrieval failure and found a consistent pattern to the findings and called this the ESP
  • states if a cue helps us recall information, it must be present at encoding and retrieval
• what are the 2 types of cue

  • from the ESP
  • external cues - context dependant learning - in the environment (place or smell)
  • internal cues - state depandant learning - inside of us (mood, drunk)