Explanations for Forgetting

• What is interference as an explanation for forgetting?

  We forget something because two pieces of information disrupt each other, resulting in us forgetting one or both pieces of information.
• interference is an explanation of forgetting in long-term memory.
• Once information has reached the long-term memory it becomes more or less permanent and therefore forgetting long-term memories is most likely because we cannot get access to them, event though it exists and is still available.
• What are the two types of interference?

  Proactive interference and retroactive interference
• What is proactive interference?

  This occurs when an older memory interferes with a newer one.
• What is retroactive interference?

  This occurs when a newer memory interferes with an older one.
• What was the aim of McGeough and McDonald's research into the effects of similarity?

  To investigate the effects of similarity, and therefore to investigate whether learning new information can interfere with the recall of past, similar memories.
• What was the procedure of McGeough and McDonald's research into the effects of similarity?

  They studied retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between two sets of materials. Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy. Then they learnt a new list.

  There were six groups of participants who had to learn different types of new lists.
• Participants in McGeough and McDonald's research into the effects of similarity had to learn a second list and they were spilt into six groups, each group leaning different lists. Give four of these groups.

  1. Synonyms of the original list.
  2. Antonyms of the original list.
  3. Words unrelated to the original list
  4. No new list, they just rested - control
• What were the findings of McGeough and McDonald's research into the effects of similarity?

  When the participants then recalled the original list of words, their performance depended on the nature of the second list. The most similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall. This shows that interference is strongest when memories are similar.
• What was the conclusion of McGeough and McDonald's research into the effects of similarity?


  They concluded that learning new information can interfere with the recall of past memories (retroactive inference), particularly when the information is similar in nature.
• What is retrieval failure theory?

  This is an alternative theory of why we forget. It's the idea that we forget due to insufficient cues available to access the memory, the memory is available but not accessible. It appears as though we have forgot it but in fact it is retrieval failure.
• What is the encoding specific principle?

  This principle states that a cue has to be present at encoding and present at retrieval. If cues are different at encoding and retrieval or there is no cue, then there may be some forgetting.

  Cues can be meaningful and non-meaningful. There are two types of non-meaningful cues which are:

  • Context dependent forgetting.
  • State-dependent forgetting.
• What is context-dependent forgetting?

  This is when recall depends on external cues.
• Who studied context dependent forgetting?

  Godden and Baddeley
• Context-dependent forgetting:

  Godden and Baddeley studies deep-sea divers who work underwater to see if training on land helped or hindered their work underwater. The divers learned a list of words, either underwater or on land. They were then asked to recall the words either underwater or on land. There were four conditions for this study.
• What were the four conditions in Godden and Baddeley's research into context-dependent forgetting?

  • Learnt on land, recalled on land.
  • Learnt on land, recalled underwater.
  • Learnt underwater, recalled on land.
  • Learnt underwater, recalled underwater.
• What were the findings of Godden and Baddeley's research into context-dependent forgetting?

  They found that accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions.
• What was the conclusion of Godden and Baddeley's research into context-dependent forgetting?

  They concluded that if external cues were available at learning but were different at recall it led to retrieval failure.
• Who studied state-dependent forgetting?

  Carter and Cassaday.
• State-dependent forgetting:

  Carter & Cassaday gave antihistamine drugs to their ppt’s which has a mild sedative effect, making the ppts slightly drowsy. This creates an internal physiological state different from the ‘normal’ state of being awake and alert. The ppt’s had to learn a list of words and passages and then recall the information. There were four conditions for this study.
• What were the four conditions in Carter and Cassaday's research into state-dependent forgetting?

  • Learnt on drugs, recalled on drugs.
  • Learnt on drugs, recalled when not on drugs.
  • Learnt when not on drugs, recalled on drugs
  • Learnt when not on drugs, recalled when not on drugs.
• What were the findings of Carter and Cassaday's research into state-dependent forgetting?

  They found that when there was a mismatch between internal states at learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significantly worse.
• What was the conclusion of Carter and Cassaday's research into state-dependent forgetting?

  They concluded that when state-dependent cues are absent, there is more forgetting.