Memory Interference

Have you ever changed your phone number and can’t remember it and keep remembering your old number? On the other hand, have you ever changed your password and after some time, you have difficulty remembering your old password? It turns out this isn’t just due to practice or forgetting. It’s a concept called interference. The first example I described was proactive interference. Proactive interference is when new information stored in your brain stops you from retrieving old information. The second example with the password is retroactive interference. This interference happens when old information stops the retrieval of new information. Why this is interesting is because you never actually forget information; it is information stopping other information. Think of it like this. The brain is the flash drive. The data is stored perfectly, but cannot be used due to a faulty usb port (the interference). How do you deal with this? Interference is natural, so you could adapt your digital life to accommodate that. For example, you could change all your passwords at the same time, so you do not fail to retrieve an odd one.