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Theories of Forgetting in Psychology

The document discusses two main theories of forgetting: interference theory and decay theory. Interference theory posits that forgetting occurs when new information interferes with old information, while decay theory argues that forgetting happens naturally over time as memories weaken. The document also describes different types of interference (retroactive and proactive) and methods used to study the causes of forgetting, such as the Brown-Peterson paradigm. While both interference and decay may contribute to forgetting, research indicates that interference generally has a stronger effect.

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Yanna Lozano
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53 views17 pages

Theories of Forgetting in Psychology

The document discusses two main theories of forgetting: interference theory and decay theory. Interference theory posits that forgetting occurs when new information interferes with old information, while decay theory argues that forgetting happens naturally over time as memories weaken. The document also describes different types of interference (retroactive and proactive) and methods used to study the causes of forgetting, such as the Brown-Peterson paradigm. While both interference and decay may contribute to forgetting, research indicates that interference generally has a stronger effect.

Uploaded by

Yanna Lozano
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

MEMORY PROCESSES:

Process of forgetting
and memory distortion

Menchie E. Tuyay
Two most well-known theory:
INTERFERENCE THEORY
DECAY THEORY

- Occurs when competing


- Occurs when passage of
informations causes us to
time causes us to forget s
forget something.
omething.
INTERFERENCE THEORY

• Refers to forgetting that occurs because


recall of certain words interferes with rec
all of the other word.
2 kinds of interference fig
ure
RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE
- Occurs when newly acquired knowledge impedes th
e recall of older material.
- Is when more recent information gets in the way of
trying to recall older information.
Example:
- Taking a test after time has passed.
- You learn new dance move but you only learn the re
cent move.
PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE
- Occurs when material that was learned in the past i
mpedes the learning of new material.

Example:
- Difficulty in remembering a friend's new phone nu
mber after having previously learned the old number.
Release from proactive inte
rference
• If you are learning a list of numbers, your performa
nce in learning will decline gradually as the list conti
nues. However, if the list switches into words, your
performance will rebound.
Method used for determining
the causes of forgetting
Brown-Peterson paradigm
- The ability to recall decreased, if a person wasn't all
owed to use rehearsal.

Serial-position curve
- It represents the ability of recall of a given word, giv
en its serial position in a list.
RECENCY EFFECT
- Refers to the superior
recall of words at and
near the end of a list.
PRIMACY EFFECT
- Refers to the superior
recall of words ar and
near the beginning of
a list.
DECAY THEORY
- Asserts that information is forgotten because of the
gradually disappearance.

Example:
- If you try to learn how to play guitar then you sudde
nly stop to learn how to play it, the memory of learni
ng how to play guitar will fade away.
Courtesy Integrity Kindnes
s Industrious

Honesty
The researcher's found:
* Decay only had a relatively small effect on forgettin
g in short-term memory.
* Interference accounted for most of the forgetting.
* So even if both decay and interference contibute to
forgetting, it can be argues that interference has the
stronger effect.
MEMORY
- Ability to take in information, store it, and
recall it at a later time.

Memories can be distorted by these factors:


Schemas- A mental model of an object or event that i
ncludes knowledge as well as beliefs and expectation
s. It can distort memory.
SOURCE AMNESIA
- Means that you remember the information but hav
e no idea where it came from.

MISINFORMATION EFFECT
- Happens when our recall of episodic memories bec
ome less accurate because of post-event information

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