ACCESSING RELATED EVENTS INCREASES RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE IN A MATCHING RECOGNITION TEST

Why is memory for a target event impaired by learning related events? Do related events change the trace for the target or hinder retrieval? Target names (e.g., Robert Harris) were shown; experimental items were followed by related names (e.g., Robert Knight) but control items were not. The given names and surnames of the targets were then provided for matching. At short (5-15 min) retention intervals, the control items were matched more accurately than were the experimental items. This retroactive interference (RI) decreased over a 30-min retention interval (Experiment 2), suggesting that the related names did not cause a permanent change in the target trace. More RI occurred at the 30-min retention interval when the related names appeared just before the test (Experiment 3). It appears that the related names must be accessed to interfere with retrieving the target.