Explanations of Forgetting; Interference

Explanations of Forgetting; Interference

1. Two pieces of information conflict with each other, resulting in forgetting one or both, or some distortion of the memory

2. More likely when the two memories have similarity

3. Proactive Interference

   • Occurs when older memories, already stored, disrupt the recall of newer ones
   • E.g. A teacher has learned so many names in the past that they have trouble remembering the names of their current class
   • Underwood
     • Found that if ppts had to learn 10 or more word lists, after 24 hours recall was about 20%
     • If they only learned one list, recall was over 70%, demonstrating forgetting die to PI

4. Retroactive Interference

   • Occurs when a newer memory interferes with an older one
   • E.g. a teacher has learned so many new names that they have difficulty remembering the names of previous students

5. Effects of similarity

   • McGeoch & McDonald
   • Ppts given list of 10 adjectives (List A)
   • Once adjectives were learned with 100% accuracy there was a resting interval of 10 minutes during which they learned list B
   • 6 Groups
     • Group 1: Synonyms (words with same meaning as originals)
     • Group 2: Antonyms (words with opposite meanings to originals
     • Group 3: Words unrelated to originals
     • Group 4: Nonsense syllables
     • Group 5: Three digit numbers
     • Group 6: No new list - ppts just rested
   • Findings
     • When ppts recalled original list their performance depended on the nature of the second list
     • List B Synonyms (most similar) recall poorest (12%)
     • List B Digits (most different) recall best (37%)