PSYCHOLOGY

FORGETTING

Forgetting is when learnt information can no longer be retrieved. Forgetting from the STM is thought to be due to an availability problem when info is displaced or it fades away.

Forgetting from the LTM  can be caused by decay as well as:

• lack of recall 
• Interference problems

INTERFERENCE

• Retroactive Interference- new info interferes with the ability to recall old information.
• Proactive Interefence- older info interfers with the ability to recal new information

Evaluation of the interference theory

• Its supported by a variety of studies carried out in the form of controlled labratory experiments.
• There is evidence of it existing ing real world application experiments
• However the effects of interference are much greater in the lab experiments
• It only gives us an explanation for WHY we forget but not hthe processes involved

EYE WITNESS TESTIMONY

Misleading Information

Loftus and Palmer- 1974

Aim: Investigated the effects of misleading info in EWT

Method:P's were shown…