Suppose you (a student) are asked by a teacher to learn a poem you will recite in front of your class. Soon after,both you and a classmate, J.P., are asked by another teacher to learn the lyrics to an unfamiliar song. When you andJ.P. are later asked to remember the song lyrics, you have a much more difficult time recalling them than J.P. does.This impairment of your performance is most likely attributable toa.proactive interference.b.your overloading the phonological loop.c.a release from proactive interference.d.a recency effect.

Proactive interference happens when old memories disrupt new memories. You try to learn new information or a new task but find it difficult because of the previous information or task you have learned. The previous information is holding you back from retaining new information. In the case we are studying here, you were asked to learn a poem, but J.P wasn't. Then, both of you were asked to memorize the lyrics to a song. You find this new task more difficult than J.P. because the memorized poem is getting in the way. Since J.P. did not have to memorize the poem, there is no interference in his process of learning the lyrics.