Retroactive Thinking Interference of Grade VI Students: A Study on the Topics of PISA Literacy Lessons

Abstract

Retroactive thinking interference is a failure in retrieving old information because it is covered by new information, often called disremembering. Disremembering happens when a lesson transferred to long-term memory fails to be recalled because it interferes with other similar concepts. This phenomenon causes learning problems for students. This study is qualitative research that focuses on describing retroactive thinking interference in grade VI of elementary school students. The subjects of the study were 37 students in SDN 26 Ampenan. Students' work and transcripts of short interviews conducted after completing the pretest and posttest were collected. The results show that most subjects cannot answer the questions correctly, some did not even answer the questions. This is related to students disremembering the lessons due to retroactive thinking interference. This thinking interference occurs because of the difficulty in recalling information that has long been buried by new information. The interference of retroactive thinking can also be characterized by the exchange of information between the two concepts already taught.