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Related Concept Videos

Sound Waves: Interference00:53

Sound Waves: Interference

Sound waves can be modeled either as longitudinal waves, wherein the molecules of the medium oscillate around an equilibrium position, or as pressure waves. When two identical waves from the same source superimpose on each other, the combination of two crests or two troughs results in amplitude reinforcement known as constructive interference. If two identical waves, that are initially in phase, become out of phase because of different path lengths, the combination of crests with troughs...
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Interference: Path Lengths

Consider two sources of sound, that may or may not be in phase, emitting waves at a single frequency, and consider the frequencies to be the same.
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...
Interference and Decay01:16

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Forgetting is a complex cognitive phenomenon influenced by several factors, among which interference and decay are particularly prominent. These processes explain why individuals often struggle to retrieve specific information from memory, leading to lapses in recall that can be observed in everyday situations.
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Interference and Diffraction02:18

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Interference is a characteristic phenomenon exhibited by waves. When two electromagnetic waves interact with their peaks and troughs coinciding, a resulting wave with enhanced amplitude is produced. This is known as constructive interference. In this case, the two waves interacting are in phase with each other.
Interference and Superposition of Waves01:07

Interference and Superposition of Waves

When two waves of the same nature occur in the same region simultaneously, they result in interference. Interference of waves implies that the net effect of the waves is the sum of the individual waves' effects. However, it does not imply that the individual waves affect the propagation of other waves.
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Auditory Pathway01:15

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Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
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Related Experiment Video

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A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
10:38

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Interference by process, not content, determines semantic auditory distraction.

John E Marsh1, Robert W Hughes, Dylan M Jones

  • 1School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK. marshje@cardiff.ac.uk

Cognition
|December 17, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Irrelevant speech distracts from visual memory tasks, especially when meaningful or related to the content. This auditory distraction highlights how similar cognitive processes, not content, impair attentional selectivity and memory recall.

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Last Updated: Jun 27, 2026

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10:38

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Published on: July 16, 2015

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08:32

Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks

Published on: September 5, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Auditory Perception
  • Memory Research

Background:

  • Attentional selectivity across sensory modalities is vulnerable to distraction.
  • Auditory distraction can impair visually-based cognitive tasks, particularly memory.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of auditory distraction on visual semantic memory.
  • To determine how speech meaningfulness and semantic relatedness affect memory recall.
  • To explore the role of task instructions (category vs. serial recall) in auditory distraction.

Main Methods:

  • Four experiments were conducted using visually-presented semantic information.
  • Participants completed memory tests under conditions of irrelevant auditory stimuli (meaningless sound vs. meaningful speech).
  • Task instructions varied between category recall and serial order recall.

Main Results:

  • Meaningful irrelevant speech significantly disrupted semantic category-exemplar recall compared to meaningless sound.
  • This disruptive effect was amplified when the irrelevant speech was semantically related to the target material.
  • Auditory distraction effects were contingent on recall instructions, primarily occurring during category-based recall.

Conclusions:

  • Attentional selectivity breakdowns and forgetting are driven by the similarity of cognitive processes engaged, not just content overlap.
  • The findings support a process-oriented model of distraction over a structural one.
  • Understanding process similarity is key to explaining auditory distraction in visual memory tasks.