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Interference theory
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Interference theory of forgetting There are 2 types of interference theory which are :- 1.The effect of interference in the short term memory 2. The effect of interference in the long term memory.
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Interference in the STM When it comes to the short term memory it is very straight forward. The theory is closely linked and backed up by Peterson and Peterson’s study and the MSM theory of memory. The theory is that interference in the short term memory will prevent memories being laid down in the long term memory and so will cause forgetting.
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Interference in the LTM In the long term memory interference theory suggests something different and it best explains the kind of forgetting that happens when we mix things up The idea is that as new information is learnt the cognitive connections can get confused especially if the information is similar to old information that we have.This will result in us giving a wrong answer or making an incorrect motor response in the case of motor skills such as sport driving or playing an instrument
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Proactive and retroactive interference There are 2 types of interference in the long term memory:- Proactive interference Retroactive interference
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Pro-active is old interfering with new. Retroactive is new interfering with old.
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Proactive interference This is when previously learnt information interferes with the new information you are trying to store e.g. – You go on holiday and on the first day get a white mark where your watch was. As you are no longer 8 and don’t want a white mark you move your watch to your right wrist. For 2 days you keep looking at your left wrist This is proactive interference. Old learning is interfering with new
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Retroactive interference This is when newly learnt information gets mixed up with the old information e.g. – The holidays over, both wrists are nicely browned and the watch is returned to the traditional left wrist but now you keep looking at the right wrist This is retroactive interference - new info is interfering with old.
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According to this theory there are two types of interference. Proactive interference is when previous learning interferes with later learning. Retroactive interference is when later learning disrupts earlier learning. For example, if you learned a set of facts about India, and I then asked you to learn a set of facts about China, you could experience interference in one of two ways. The facts about India could disrupt your learning of China (proactive interference) or the new facts about China could alter what you know about India (retroactive interference). A common everyday example of proactive interference is when you rearrange the location of items in a room. You may keep going back to the place where items used to be instead of where they are now!
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Remember – Dog – chair – Bed – gate
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Remember Dog – boy Bed – hat
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Strengths There is a lot of evidence that backs up the idea that interference causes certain types of forgetting e.g. Dallenbach (1924) and Peterson and Peterson (1959). It is a credible theory because it is backed up by our own everyday (anecdotal) experiences e.g. windscreen wipers if they are on a different side to what you are used to, the watch example or trying to learn a 3 rd language.
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Weaknesses It is hard to be specific that interference has happened and not trace decay or displacement which can also explain some of the findings. Most of the strongest evidence is provided by laboratory experiments which lacks ecological validity and may therefore not truly explain the nature of memory in real life.
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