Lillian is cramming for her Latin exam.She must memorize vocabulary lists for Chapters 3 through 7 in her textbook by tomorrow morning.Which of the following best describes her recall of Chapter 5's vocabulary list compared to her friend Deb,who studied each chapter on the individual night assigned?
A)Her recall of Chapter 5 will be essentially the same as Deb's if their total amount of study time is similar.
B)Her recall of Chapter 5 will be worse than Deb's because of proactive and retroactive interference.
C)Her recall of Chapter 5 will be better than Deb's because of proactive interference.
D)Her recall of Chapter 5 will be worse than Deb's because of retroactive interference only.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Lillian's cramming for multiple chapters at once may cause proactive interference, where older information (vocabulary from Chapters 3 and 4) interferes with her ability to recall newer information (vocabulary from Chapter 5). In contrast, Deb's studying of each chapter on separate nights should give her better recall and reduce the effects of proactive interference. Additionally, cramming can also cause retroactive interference, where recent information (Chapter 7 vocabulary) interferes with recall of older information (Chapter 5 vocabulary). Therefore, Lillian's recall of Chapter 5 vocabulary is likely to be worse than Deb's.

Lillian Is Cramming for Her Latin Exam