What effect is observed when information learned earlier impacts the recall of information learned later?

The phenomenon where earlier learned information interferes with the recall of subsequently learned information is known as proactive interference. This occurs when prior knowledge or memories hinder the ability to remember new information. For instance, if someone learns a new phone number and has trouble remembering it because of a similar number they learned earlier, this is a classic example of proactive interference in action.

In contrast, retrieval effects refer to the ability to access information from memory, while primacy effects relate to the tendency to remember items at the beginning of a list better than those in the middle. Recency effects refer to better recall for items at the end of a list. Each of these concepts focuses on different aspects of memory processing rather than the specific impact of previously learned information on the learning of new material.