Final answer:
Encoding failure is when information is not effectively remembered due to lack of attention or significance. Memory errors include failures like transience, absent-mindedness, and suggestibility, affecting how memories are retained and recalled. Proactive and retroactive interference describe how old and new information can compete, disrupting memory recall.
Step-by-step explanation:
Encoding failure refers to the brain's inability to create a memory link because it was never encoded effectively. This often occurs when the information does not have any meaning or importance to the individual at the time of exposure, and thus the brain does not allocate sufficient resources to remember it. For example, failing to remember the color of a pen on a coworker’s desk because you did not find it important.
Discussing various memory errors, we encounter several types such as transience, which is the deterioration of a memory over time; absent-mindedness, an encoding failure resulting from a lack of attention; and misattribution, where memories are remembered but associated with the wrong time, place, or person. Another common error is suggestibility, which is the incorporation of misinformation into one's memory due to leading questions, deception, or other means.
Interference is another significant factor that causes memory errors. It comes in two forms: proactive interference, where old memories disrupt the recall of new memories, and retroactive interference, where new learning interferes with the retrieval of old information. For instance, after learning French, you might find it difficult to recall previously learned Spanish vocabulary, illustrating proactive interference. Alternatively, if new Spanish vocabulary starts to hinder your ability to remember the previously learned French, this demonstrates retroactive interference.
Comparing and contrasting proactive and retroactive interference, we find that proactive interference is related to difficulties incorporating new information due to old information, whereas retroactive interference involves new information disrupting memory for old information. Both reflect the competitive nature of memories and how they can impede one another.