scholarly journals Retroactive Interference in Short-term Memory

Nature ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 203 (4952) ◽  
pp. 1408-1408 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. C. A. DALE
Author(s):  
Tom Mercer

Abstract. Retroactive interference occurs when new information disrupts the retention of an existing representation, but its effects on visual short-term memory remain poorly understood. The present study examined three factors predicted to influence domain-specific retroactive interference, including the type of distractor, its temporal position, and the length of the retention interval. Participants compared target and test objects over a brief interval that either was unfilled or contained a similar or dissimilar distractor occurring 200 ms or 1.5 s after the target offset. Retention was influenced by the temporal position of the distractor and its relationship with the to-be-remembered target. Specifically, retroactive interference was only observed following the presentation of a dissimilar distractor that occurred 1.5 s after the target. These results suggest that novel distractors may be particularly interfering.


1988 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 743-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Guay ◽  
Alan W. Salmoni

The purpose of this research was to determine the retroactive interference effects of a single interpolated task (i.e., one temporal duration) on the retention of a criterion duration. This research is of interest because the mnemonic structure of temporal information of different durations is uncertain. Previous research has indicated that there might be a difference in structure for durations of 1 and 4 sec., although the results are inconsistent. Thus, two criterion durations of 1 and 4 sec. and five interpolated durations (i.e., 60%, 80%, 100%, 120%, and 140% of the duration of the criterion) were utilized under the method of reproduction. In addition, subjects were instructed to use either a counting strategy or none (referred to as conscious time estimation) to facilitate the retention of the temporal information. Recall was less variable when using a counting strategy than not and when estimating 1 sec. than 4 sec. However, there was no effect of interpolated activity when comparing performance across different interpolated conditions (no interpolated activity). Apparently, one interpolated duration is not sufficient to produce structural interference with a single criterion duration.


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