2.3.1 Interference: Retro & Pro-active

What is interference?   

• The ways in which information is lost from long-term memory
• It is when one memory prevents the retrieval of another memory; it gets in the way
• There are two types: retroactive and proactive
• Interference can occur when learning or memories are similar

 Retroactive interference

• This is when a new memory interferes with an old memory
• Retro: Backward/the past-previous memory is lost due to the new memory
  • Example: You forget your old phone number as the new number has replaced it
  • Example: You forget how to drive a manual car as you have been driving an automatic for so long

Proactive interference

• This when an old memory interferes with a new memory
• Pro: Forward - you cannot access the new memory as the old one is still dominant
  • Example: You struggle to learn Spanish as you get muddled with previously learnt French vocabulary
  • Example: You struggle to learn your new phone number as you keep recalling your old number

Research support for interference

• Postman (1960) -  learning items in a second list interfered with participants’ ability to recall the first list i.e. retroactive interference
• Baddeley and Hitch (1977) - rugby players who had played every game were more likely to forget matches: the later games had interfered with a recall of the earlier matches i.e. retroactive interference
• McGeoch and McDonald (1931) -  participants who were given synonyms had the worst recall as it was likely the memory for the original list had not been interfered with i.e. interference is more likely to occur when memories are similar

Evaluation of research on interference

• Postman (1960) and McGeoch and McDonald (1931) were carried out in a lab so lack ecological validity but it can be easily replicated
• Baddeley and Hitch (1977) used real situations and memories of actual games so this is high in ecological validity and accounts for time taken between learning
• McGeoch and McDonald (1931) may lack temporal validity (getting on for 100 years old!) and cannot account for the role taken by technology in how we now remember information