Vadillo, M. A. & Ortega-Castro, N.
Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
Interference effects have become one of the most important topics in current theorizing about contingency learning. Although most of these studies focus on experimental designs that are to some extent isomorphic to the classic A-B, A-C interference paradigm (i.e., interference between outcomes), it has been found that similar effects can be found in situations that resemble to a A-B, C-B interference paradigm (i.e., interference between cues). However, the available theories, which were designed to account for the former type of interference, are unable to provide an explanation for the latter. Using an adaptation of the standard experimental procedure for the study of retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), we show that the kind of inhibitory processes invoked in memory research to account for RIF can take place both in A-B, A-C and A-B, C-B interference paradigms. This suggests that the explanatory mechanisms that have been advanced to account for RIF can have an important role in future attempts to provide an integrative explanation of interference between cues and interference between outcomes.