If you move from the United States to England and have trouble adjusting to driving on the left side of the road, you are experiencing

• A. retroactive interference.
• B. proactive interference.
• C. encoding failure.
• D. memory trace decay.

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Begin by understanding the concept of 'interference' in psychology, which refers to the phenomenon where some memories interfere with the retrieval of other memories.
2. Differentiate between 'proactive interference' and 'retroactive interference'. Proactive interference occurs when old information hinders the recall of newly learned information, while retroactive interference happens when new information interferes with the retrieval of older information.
3. Consider the scenario: moving from the United States to England and having trouble adjusting to driving on the left side of the road. Identify which type of interference is at play by determining whether old or new information is causing the difficulty.
4. Analyze the situation: the difficulty arises because the old habit of driving on the right side (learned in the U.S.) is interfering with the new requirement to drive on the left side (in England).
5. Conclude that this scenario is an example of proactive interference, where the previously learned behavior (driving on the right) is interfering with the new learning (driving on the left).