Explanations of forgetting - interference
AO1 BRIEF: 2 marks AO3: 1-3 marks
Aicore
The interference 333 is the idea that when one memory blocks
theory There is a much greater chance that interference will be
another, this causes one or both of the memories to be forgotten. demonstrated in the lab rather than in real life situations, as the
This conflict between the pieces of information results in some kind stimulus materials used in most studies are a list of words.
of distortion of memory. Interference has mainly been proposed as Participants have to learn this list, which is more realistic than
an explanation of forgetting in long term memory, as once learning lists of consonant syllables. However, this is still not a good
information has reached LTM it is pretty much permanent. Due to reflection of the things we learn and try to remember in everyday
this, any forgetting of LTM’s is usually because we cannot access life, such as people’s faces, their birthday’s etc. Therefore, this is a
them, even though they are available. Interference between limitation because the use of artificial tasks makes interference
memories makes it harder for us to locate them, which we much more likely in the lab, and so interference may not be as likely
experience as ‘forgetting’. an explanation for forgetting in everyday life as it is in the lab.
AO1 EXPLAIN: 4 marks AO3: 4-6 marks
It is very likely that the memories interfering with each other were Despite this, lots of lab studies have provided us with useful evidence
stored at different times, and therefore psychologists recognise the of interference as an explanation of forgetting. Interference in
fact that there are two types of interference; proactive interference memory is one of the most consistently demonstrated findings in
and retroactive interference. Proactive interference occurs when an psychology, and thousands of lab experiments have been carried out
older memory, that is already stored, interferes with a newer one and into this explanation of forgetting. Most of these studies show that
consequently disrupts the recall of the newer memory. Whereas, both types of interference are likely to be common ways we forget
retroactive interference happens when a newer memory interferes information from LTM, which is a clear strength. This is because lab
with an older one, therefore disrupting the recall of older memories experiments control the effects of irrelevant influences, and give us
already stored. For both of these types of interference, the degree of the confidence that interference is a valid explanation for at least
forgetting is greater when the memories involved are similar. some forgetting.
AO1 DISCUSS – 6 marks AO3: 7-8 marks
Researchers investigated the effects of similarity on interference, and As well as this, some real life studies have considered interference
discovered that when the memories are similar to each other, there effects in more everyday situations. Rugby players were asked to
is greater interference. They did this by studying retroactive remember the names of the teams they had played so far in the
interference, changing the amount of similarity between two sets of season, week by week, and this was done to find out whether
materials each time. Participants learnt a list of words until they interference was a better explanation of forgetting than the passage
could remember it with 100% accuracy, and then had to learn a new of time. The results showed that accurate recall did not depend on
list. Six groups of participants had different types of lists, including how long ago the matches took place, but was instead the number of
synonyms, antonyms, words unrelated to the original ones, nonsense games they had played in the meantime – this varied between
syllables, three digit numbers and no new list. The results showed players. So, a player’s recall of a team from three weeks ago was
that when the participants recalled the original list, their better if they had played no matches since then. Therefore, the study
performance depended on the nature of the second list. The most shows that interference explanations can apply to at least some
similar material produced the worst recall, showing that interference everyday situations.
is strongest when memories are similar.
Notes: AO3: 9-10 marks
Proactive interference: e.g. a teacher has learned so many However, a more important weakness of interference that
outweighs these strengths is the time between learning and
names in the past that she struggles to remember the names
recalling. It is obvious that the majority of lab experiments are
of her current class
created so that the possibility of interference is maximised. An
example of how this occurs is in the time periods between learning
Retroactive interference: e.g. a teacher has learned so many
the lists of words and recalling them. For practical reasons, these
new names this year that she has difficulty remembering the
time periods are quite short, and in some cases unnecessarily short.
student’s names from last year So, a participant may have to learn the lists and recall them in a
very short space of time, which defeats the object of us seeing how
Synonyms: words with similar meanings
interference affects long term memory, as the time period we are
Antonyms: words with different meanings using to investigate the interference theory is very short and
therefore not a good representation of real life interference.
Word count: AO1 – 327, AO3 – 472, Total - 799
AO1 BRIEF: 2 marks AO3: 1-3 marks
Aicore
The interference 333 is the idea that when one memory blocks
theory There is a much greater chance that interference will be
another, this causes one or both of the memories to be forgotten. demonstrated in the lab rather than in real life situations, as the
This conflict between the pieces of information results in some kind stimulus materials used in most studies are a list of words.
of distortion of memory. Interference has mainly been proposed as Participants have to learn this list, which is more realistic than
an explanation of forgetting in long term memory, as once learning lists of consonant syllables. However, this is still not a good
information has reached LTM it is pretty much permanent. Due to reflection of the things we learn and try to remember in everyday
this, any forgetting of LTM’s is usually because we cannot access life, such as people’s faces, their birthday’s etc. Therefore, this is a
them, even though they are available. Interference between limitation because the use of artificial tasks makes interference
memories makes it harder for us to locate them, which we much more likely in the lab, and so interference may not be as likely
experience as ‘forgetting’. an explanation for forgetting in everyday life as it is in the lab.
AO1 EXPLAIN: 4 marks AO3: 4-6 marks
It is very likely that the memories interfering with each other were Despite this, lots of lab studies have provided us with useful evidence
stored at different times, and therefore psychologists recognise the of interference as an explanation of forgetting. Interference in
fact that there are two types of interference; proactive interference memory is one of the most consistently demonstrated findings in
and retroactive interference. Proactive interference occurs when an psychology, and thousands of lab experiments have been carried out
older memory, that is already stored, interferes with a newer one and into this explanation of forgetting. Most of these studies show that
consequently disrupts the recall of the newer memory. Whereas, both types of interference are likely to be common ways we forget
retroactive interference happens when a newer memory interferes information from LTM, which is a clear strength. This is because lab
with an older one, therefore disrupting the recall of older memories experiments control the effects of irrelevant influences, and give us
already stored. For both of these types of interference, the degree of the confidence that interference is a valid explanation for at least
forgetting is greater when the memories involved are similar. some forgetting.
AO1 DISCUSS – 6 marks AO3: 7-8 marks
Researchers investigated the effects of similarity on interference, and As well as this, some real life studies have considered interference
discovered that when the memories are similar to each other, there effects in more everyday situations. Rugby players were asked to
is greater interference. They did this by studying retroactive remember the names of the teams they had played so far in the
interference, changing the amount of similarity between two sets of season, week by week, and this was done to find out whether
materials each time. Participants learnt a list of words until they interference was a better explanation of forgetting than the passage
could remember it with 100% accuracy, and then had to learn a new of time. The results showed that accurate recall did not depend on
list. Six groups of participants had different types of lists, including how long ago the matches took place, but was instead the number of
synonyms, antonyms, words unrelated to the original ones, nonsense games they had played in the meantime – this varied between
syllables, three digit numbers and no new list. The results showed players. So, a player’s recall of a team from three weeks ago was
that when the participants recalled the original list, their better if they had played no matches since then. Therefore, the study
performance depended on the nature of the second list. The most shows that interference explanations can apply to at least some
similar material produced the worst recall, showing that interference everyday situations.
is strongest when memories are similar.
Notes: AO3: 9-10 marks
Proactive interference: e.g. a teacher has learned so many However, a more important weakness of interference that
outweighs these strengths is the time between learning and
names in the past that she struggles to remember the names
recalling. It is obvious that the majority of lab experiments are
of her current class
created so that the possibility of interference is maximised. An
example of how this occurs is in the time periods between learning
Retroactive interference: e.g. a teacher has learned so many
the lists of words and recalling them. For practical reasons, these
new names this year that she has difficulty remembering the
time periods are quite short, and in some cases unnecessarily short.
student’s names from last year So, a participant may have to learn the lists and recall them in a
very short space of time, which defeats the object of us seeing how
Synonyms: words with similar meanings
interference affects long term memory, as the time period we are
Antonyms: words with different meanings using to investigate the interference theory is very short and
therefore not a good representation of real life interference.
Word count: AO1 – 327, AO3 – 472, Total - 799
