Forgetting (from LTM)

Forgetting (from LTM)

1. Interference Theory

   • Proactive Interference
     • Where old learning prevents recall of more recent information. What we know interferes with what we are currently learning. Old memories disrupt new ones.
   • Retroactive Interference
     • new learning prevents the recall of previously leaned information. New memories disrupting old memories.
   • They are thought to occur when memories are similar ie, phone numbers. Chandler said that students who study similar subjects at the same time often experience interference.
     • Postman used a lab experiment and split participants into two groups both having to remember list of paired words. The experimental group had to learn both pairs whereas the control group wasnt given the second list. All participants where asked to recall the first words. The control group where more accurate suggesting that learning items in the second list interfered. This is retroactive interference.
   • It tells little about the cognitive processes involved in forgetting. The majority of research into the role of interference in forgetting was carried out in a lab. You may not be able to generalise from those findings.

2. Retrieval Theory