memory errors

Meaning: Memory errors are failures of forgetting or distortions of recall. Forgetting can reflect failed encoding (the item was not attended to), decay of unused traces, interference, or retrieval failure, where the memory is stored but cannot be accessed, as in tip-of-the-tongue. Distortion occurs because memory is reconstructive: recall is rebuilt from stored pieces and schemas. Examples are the misinformation effect, where misleading information after an event alters recall of it, and source monitoring errors, where the origin of a memory is misattributed.

On the MCAT: A passage has participants learn one list, then a second, and asks which kind of interference occurred. Another common setup is an eyewitness study in which question wording ("smashed" versus "hit") changes speed estimates, illustrating the misinformation effect (Loftus). Questions may also ask how a retrieval cue or matching context improves recall.

Common confusion: Proactive and retroactive interference get swapped. Direction in time settles it: proactive acts forward (old material blocks new learning), and retroactive acts backward (new material disrupts recall of old). Also, forgetting does not always mean the memory is gone: with retrieval failure, a good cue can recover it.