Examining a processing tradeoff explanation of proactive interference
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Updated: Nov 7, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
Published on: July 16, 2015
E Hirshman1, D J Burns, T M Kuo
1Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-3270.
Abstract:
Burns (1989) claims that proactive interference effects occur in paired-associate learning because of tradeoffs in relational and response-specific processing. Consistent with this claim, Burns demonstrated that free recall of critical-list responses is better in the interference condition than in the control condition. Burns's processing tradeoff explanation predicts that the occurrence of this reverse-interference effect should be positively correlated with the occurrence of traditional interference effects. We present several experiments whose results are inconsistent with this prediction. We hypothesize that the reverse-interference effect is a list-length effect. The results of a final experiment, contrasting the predictions of the list-length and processing tradeoff explanations, support the list-length explanation.
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