Forgetting

• Interference theory

  Forgetting happens when similar information gets in the way of what we are trying to recall
• Proactive interference- when old information interferes with new information
• Retroactive interference- when new information interferes with old information
• evaluations for the interference theory as a way of explaining forgetting

  🙂 evidence to support from Baddeley and Hitch’s rugby study

  🙂 evidence to support from McGeoch and McDonald’s syllable study

  ☹️ evidence against - individual differences in proactive interference
• Retrieval cue failure

  Forgetting occurs when the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different. This is known as the encoding specificity principle.
• State dependant forgetting - internal cues are missing at the retrieval stage
• Context dependant forgetting - external cues are missing at the retrieval stage
• evaluations for retrieval cue failure as a way of explaining forgetting

  🙂 evidence to support from Godden and Baddeley’s deep-sea diver study

  🙂 evidence to support from Godwin‘s alcohol study

  ☹️ criticism of research into retrieval cue failure