Question

Once Neal left home for college, he found it difficult to recall the street names of his childhood neighborhood and even the names of his old classmates. What type of forgetting has affected Neal?

a) Retroactive interference
b) Proactive interference
c) Repression
d) Encoding failure

Answer 1

Neal is experiencing retroactive interference, where newly learned information affects his ability to recall older information.

Step-by-step explanation:

Neal is experiencing retroactive interference. Retroactive interference occurs when newly learned information hinders the recall of older information. In Neal's case, the new information he learned in college is interfering with his ability to recall the old information such as street names and classmates' names from his childhood neighborhood.

Neal's difficulty in recalling the street names of his childhood neighborhood and the names of his old classmates after leaving for college is an example of retroactive interference. This type of forgetting occurs when newly learned information interferes with the recall of older information. Since Neal has been exposed to a new environment and likely new information since leaving for college, this new information may be hindering his ability to remember the older, less frequently used information about his old neighborhood and classmates.