retrieval failure

• what is retrieval failure?

  • when our information available but you cant access it
  • happens when you have insufficient cues to aid/trigger memory
• what is encoding specificity principle?

  • proposed by tulving 1973
  • memory is most effective if information that was present at encoding is also available at the time of retrieval
• explain cue dependent forgetting?

  • cues which are linked meaningfully to the info to be remembered
  • cues which are not linked meaningfully
  • when we learn info we code the context in which we learn it & mental state we are in
• name 2 cues?

  1. external cues - context dependent
  2. internal cues - state dependent
• godden & baddeley 1975 study?

  • investigated effect of context dependent cues
  • aim - see if memory for words learned & recalled in same environment was better than memory for words learned & recalled in different environments
  • sample consisted of 18 p from uni diving club
• godden & baddeley method?

  g1 - learn words on land & recall on land

  g2 - learn words on land & recall underwater

  g3 - learn underwater & recall underwater

  g4 - learn underwater & recall on land

  • each p taking part in all 4 conditions over 4 days - repeated measures
  • in all 4 conditions were presented with 38 words which they heard twice
  • after they had to write all they could remember in any order
• godden & baddeley findings?

  • found that words learned underwater were better recalled underwater & vice versa for words learned on land
  • accurare recall was 40% lower in non matching conditions
• goodwin 1969 study?

  • investigated state dependent cues
  • asked volunteers to remember list of words when drunk/sober
  • asked to recall 24 hrs later when they were again drunk/sober
• 4 X of retrieval failure?

  1. evidence to contradict context dependent by baddeley 1997 & 1980
  2. evidence to suggest retrieval cues do not work - smith & vela 2001
  3. evidence to contradict by nairne 2002
• X evidence to contradict context dep from baddeley 1997?

  • argues that context effects are not actually that strong especially in real life
  • different contexts have to be very different before specific effect is seen
  • the difference is only valid in extreme circumstances meaning its difficult to generalise findings of research to real life explanations of forgetting
• X evidence to contradict context dep from baddeley 1980?

  • replicated his underwater experiment but used recognition test instead of recall
  • p had to say whether they recognised a word read to them from list
  • when tested performance was same in all 4 conditions
  • ? internal
  • it suggests that the presence/absence of cues only affects memory when you test it in certain way thus cannot be applied to retrieval failure in all situations
• X evidence to suggest retrieval cues do not work?

  • could be suggested that info that you are learning is related alot more to "recall" than just cues
  • smith & vela 2001 believe that context effects are largely eliminated when learning meaningful material compared to material with no meaning
  • suggests that if material we learn has "meaning" we do not require cues to allow us to recall successfully
• X evidence to contradict from nairne?

  • nairne 2002 criticised what he calls "myth of the encoding retrieval match"
  • claims relationship between encoding cues & later retrieval is correlation not causation
  • cannot establish cause & effect relationship between presence of cues & our ability to retrieve info
  • so absence of cues cannot be viewed as only reason for forgetting info
• * practical applications?

  • research has suggested that can be used to improve recall when needed
  • abernethy 1940 suggests you ought to revise in room where you will be taking exam
  • may be unrealistic but smith 1979 showed that just "thinking of the room" where you did original learning was just as effective as actually being in same room at time of retrieval
  • shows how with presence of context dep cues means you are less likely to forget
• goodwin 1969 findings?

  • found that there was an absence of internal cues
  • so different learning & recall states did not provide p with appropriate prompts/cues needed to aid recall
• when is retrieval failure more likely?

  • when states are different