Retroactive Interference
What is Retroactive Interference?
Retroactive interference is a cognitive phenomenon where newly learned information disrupts the recall of previously stored memories, making it harder to remember older knowledge. This type of memory interference occurs when similar or overlapping information competes for retrieval, often leading to forgetting or confusion. Common in learning, education, and eyewitness testimony, retroactive interference highlights the brain’s difficulty in managing competing memories over time.
The Basic Idea
Anyone who has moved abroad or across the country can tell you that the process is laborious. Not only are there all the moving boxes to manage, but there are also so many new things to remember: a new address, new street names, sometimes even a new phone number or bank information. When you’ve first moved to a new spot, there’s often an intermediary time period where you need to enter your previous address or contact information into various forms, while simultaneously trying to memorize all the new things being thrown at you. You may find yourself staring at a blank form, struggling to remember your old address, even though you once knew it so well.
Why is this so hard? Well, not only are you likely incredibly overwhelmed, but the psychological concept of retroactive interference may also be at play. This cognitive phenomenon happens when we learn new information that’s similar to previous knowledge, creating a barrier to retrieving the older information. In this case, your old phone number and your new phone number are both just a string of numbers; once you’re focused on memorizing the new number, the digits of your old line may find themselves getting mixed up in your head, as now all you can recall is your current one.
This cognitive phenomenon has been studied for decades, usually in the context of vocabulary memorization. However, the implications of retroactive interference are relevant for everything from our cognitive wellbeing as we age, to how we structure our education and judicial systems.1
Our memory is not like a video camera... Your memory reframes and edits events to create a story to fit your current world. It's built to be current.
— Donna Jo Bridge, cognitive neuroscience researcher and author of a study on the neural correlates of reactivation and retrieval-induced distortion
About the Author
Annika Steele
Annika completed her Masters at the London School of Economics in an interdisciplinary program combining behavioral science, behavioral economics, social psychology, and sustainability. Professionally, she’s applied data-driven insights in project management, consulting, data analytics, and policy proposal. Passionate about the power of psychology to influence an array of social systems, her research has looked at reproductive health, animal welfare, and perfectionism in female distance runners.
