Explanations for forgetting: proactive interference and retroactive interference
Interference explains forgetting by arguing that similar memories compete with each other. Old memories can disrupt new ones, and new memories can disrupt old ones.
Real World
A teacher who learned students' names last year (old learning) may accidentally call this year's new students by last year's names — this is proactive interference, where previous memories disrupt recall of more recent, similar information.
Exam Focus
Always specify the direction: state which memory (old or new) is doing the disrupting and which is being disrupted.
Evaluation Scaffold
A four-step framework for high-quality evaluation. Use this for 'assess', 'evaluate', and 'to what extent' questions.
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