PI and RI in serial learning as a function of environmental context

Abstract

The influence of the environmental context upon serial learning was investigated in a PI design in Experiment 1 and an RI design in Experiment 2. Either one or four lists learned either before or after the critical list were used to manipulate PI or RI, respectively. Learning the critical list in the same room as the interference-inducing lists or in a different room provided the first context manipulation. The second context factor involved relearning the critical list in the same room as it was learned 24 hours earlier, or in a different one. In the PI study the early and middle thirds of the list were affected by context in original learning. In relearning, correct responses over the first two trials differed both as a function of number of prior lists learned and of original learning context. With RI, fewer trials to relearn were required by a condition involving facilitating context manipulations, relative to a neutral context, and a competing context condition was inferior. The results are largely consistent with predictions derived from the interference theory of forgetting and traditional associative learning theory.

Proactive Interference in Human Predictive Learning

“…For example, in Matute and Pineño's (1998b) predictive learning experiments, interference was attenuated when the interfering and target associations were trained in different contexts and testing occurred in the context in which the target association had been trained. This is a well demonstrated effect in several other different paradigms: In verbal learning (Bidoleau & Schlosberg, 1951), in serial learning (Kanak & Stevens, 1992), and in several studies of long-term retention in rats (Chiszar & Spear, 1969;Spear, 1971;Zentall, 1970). In all of these studies it has been shown that memories established in a context similar to that of testing are more likely to be retrieved than memories established in a context different from that of testing.…”