Research shows that when people are presented an irrelevant distractor stimulus at the end of a word list they must recall, it impairs their ability to recall the last item on the list compared to a control group to whom there was no distractor stimulus. This finding is evidence for which theory of forgetting?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Interference theory posits that forgetting occurs because memories interfere with each other. In this scenario, the irrelevant distractor stimulus interfered with the participants' ability to recall the last item on the list, providing evidence for interference theory. Decay theory suggests that forgetting occurs due to the passage of time, motivated forgetting theory suggests that forgetting occurs because of the desire to forget unpleasant memories, and retrieval failure theory suggests that forgetting occurs due to difficulties in accessing stored memories. None of these theories are directly supported by the scenario described.

Research Shows That When People Are Presented an Irrelevant Distractor