Question

jason studies spanish for three years, and then switches to pashto. when asked to remember spanish vocabulary, he cant. instead he can only remember pashto vocabulary. this is an example of ________ interference.

retroactive
proactive
inaccessible
inactive

Explanation:

Analyze the direction of memory interference

Using the Retroactive Interference and Memory Interference knowledge points

• Old information learned: Spanish vocabulary (learned first).
• New information learned: Pashto vocabulary (learned second).
• Memory failure: Jason cannot recall the old Spanish vocabulary because the newly acquired Pashto vocabulary blocks it.
• Since newly learned information interferes with the retrieval of older information, this is retro-acting (backward-acting) interference.

Answer:

• retroactive (Correct answer)
• proactive
• inaccessible
• inactive