Memory- interference

Memory- interference

1. When one piece of information blocks another, causing distortion or forgetting

   • Proactive interference
     • Older memory interferes with new memory
     • Your name is Louis. Your teacher had a student in her class last year called Lewis, and she keeps calling you Lewis rather than Louis
   • Retroactive interference
     • Newer memory interferes with old memory
     • Your name is Louis. Your teacher had a student in her class last year called Lewis, but since learning your name, she can't remember Lewis' name

2. Effects of similiarity

   • Interference is worse when memories are similar
   • McGeoch and McDonald
     • 1931
     • Participants all learned the same list of words to 100% accuracy
       • They were then given a new list of words
         • Group1
           • Synonyms
             • Most interference
         • Group 2
           • Antonyms
         • Group 3
           • Unrelated words
         • Group 4
           • Nonsense syllables
         • Group 5
           • Three digit numbers
         • Group 6
           • No new list
             • Least interferences
         • The more similar the word (synonyms) the worse the interference

3. Evaluation

   • Evidence from lab studies
     • Control over extraneous variables
     • Increased validity
     • Too artificial
       • Word lists have no relevance to participants
       • Difficult to generalise to everyday life
   • Real life studies
     • Baddeley, 1977
       • Rugby players had to recall all of the matches they'd played in a season
         • Didn't matter if last match was 3 weeks ago, interference depended on number of matches played since
           • Best recall if they hadn't played since the last game
   • Time between learning
     • In real life, the time between learning and recall can actually be quite long, while in lab studies it is very short for practical reasons