Disruption of these activities leads to poorly formed memories, and thus, forgetting. Does not explain the role of the content of the experiences during a retention interval. Interference Theory A. Basic Assumptions 1. Forgetting is caused by interference between information being tested and other information that has been learned. Analysis of learning in terms of associations between stimulus and response terms.
Interference occurs when the same stimulus is associated with more than one response.
However, PI continues even when response competition is removed. Interference theory did not satisfactorily explain retrieval failures. Forgetting is caused by the inability to access information that is represented in memory. The type of memory trace determines what retrieval cues will be successful at gaining access to the memory trace. Existence of repression accepted as a mater of faith, incapable of disproof.