When an old password gets in the way
Change a password and your fingers may keep typing the old one. Earlier learning can interfere with remembering something new, while newer learning can make older information harder to recall. Psychologists investigate these two directions of interference without assuming the memory itself has been erased.
Questions you could explore
- How would you distinguish old information blocking new information from the reverse?
- What kind of memory task would let researchers compare the two directions of interference?
Start reading
- OpenStax, Rice UniversityPsychology 2e, 8.3: Problems with Memory
The interference section uses addresses and combinations to distinguish proactive and retroactive interference.
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