release from proactive interference

restoration of the capacity to readily remember items of one type after switching categories of materials to be recalled. For example, successively trying to memorize dates leads to the buildup of proactive interference, causing a decline in immediate recall of dates; switching to remembering names releases proactive interference, and retention improves (i.e., names are remembered more easily than dates were).

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Psychology term of the day

October 9th 2024

non compos mentis

in law, mentally deficient or legally insane and therefore not responsible for one’s conduct. See incompetence; insanity. Compare compos mentis.