Question

________ interference occurs when old information hinders the recall of newly learned information, while ________ interference happens when information learned more recently hinders the recall of older information.

proactive; retroactive
retroactive; proactive
inactive; active
active; inactive

Explanation:

Analyze the first blank

The first part of the statement describes a scenario where old information hinders the recall of newly learned information. In psychology, this is defined as proactive interference (where "pro" indicates forward-acting disruption).

Analyze the second blank

The second part of the statement describes a scenario where information learned more recently hinders the recall of older information. This is defined as retroactive interference (where "retro" indicates backward-acting disruption).

Match with the options

Combining the two terms in order gives "proactive; retroactive", which corresponds to the first option.

Answer:

• (A) proactive; retroactive (Correct answer)
• (B) retroactive; proactive
• (C) inactive; active
• (D) active; inactive