Proactive vs. retroactive interference
After switching banks, a woman keeps entering her old PIN at the new bank's ATM. Her difficulty recalling the new PIN is an example of:
Answer A: explanation for every choice
A
Correct. Older information (the old PIN) disrupts recall of newer information.
B
Retroactive interference is new learning disrupting recall of older information, which would mean forgetting the old PIN.
C
Decay is fading of a memory from disuse. The old PIN is clearly intact.
D
A source monitoring error is misremembering where a memory came from.
TakeawayProactive: old blocks new. Retroactive: new blocks old.
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Reviewed 2026-11-05 by a medical student. Spot an error? Report it with question ID ps14.