Finding content for my posts can be a challenge. Sometimes I find a news item I want to write about. Sometimes I want to describe a book I have read. Often, something happens to me and I feel I must share.
I spent my career trying to explain the findings of psychology to freshmen and future teachers. Often, what I had to offer is the way psychologists understand the experiences of daily life. For example, some might describe certain personal experiences as due to stupidity or distraction, but this is not always the case. The language of psychology can sometimes offer an alternative. I have this alternate way of viewing the world and I can not only excuse my own behavior but generate a blog post as well.
Retroactive interference occurs when new learning interferes with an older behavior. Since we purchased our Dodge Durango, I no longer have to use a key to start my car. I can just keep a fob in my pocket to open the locked door and I can push a button to start this car. I have been messing with my grandkids whose parents do not have this type of entry to their vehicle for a year or so. I keep telling them I can open the locked door without a key because I know the magic words. They have yet to figure this out. It is kind of fun to demonstrate and to explain when they try the same thing that they are not saying the magic word correctly. After a couple of tries, if I stand closer to the car, their effort works.
The joke is now on me. We needed my pickup to haul dirt for various gardens in “the cities” so I drove it down from the lake. After arriving at my home, I took the keys out of the ignition and threw them on the seat. I exited the car and locked the door. I have no other explanation for this sequence of behaviors than retroactive interference. I was able to take a photo of my keys through the windshield. Without this blog, I would never have thought to do so and I would have no way to justify the $145 I had to pay the locksmith for the 40 seconds it took him to open the truck door and retrieve my keys.
So, remember the meaning of retroactive interference in case you have the need to explain some of your own irrational behavior.