Retrieval Failure

• What is retrieval failure

  • information is in your LTM however you can’t access it
  • Absence of cues leads to forgetting
  • Also known as ‘tip of the tongue’
• What is the Encoding Specificity Principle ?


  Recall is best if it happens in the same place / environment / mood as learning

  (Cues don’t need to be exactly the same just similar)
• What are the two types of retrieval failure ?


  • context ( external )
  • State ( internal )
• What is context ?

  • external
  • Recall is best if it takes place in the same environment as learning
• What does state mean as a type of retrieval failure?

  • internal
  • Recall is best if it takes place in the same state / mood as learning
• What did Godden and Baddeley do? (AO3- strength) 


  • investigated context cues
  • Divers were given 40 unrelated words to learn
  • 4 groups -> land(l) + water(r), land(l) + land(r), water(l) + land(r), water(l) + water(r)
  • Land + land and water + water had the best recall as context cues were available
  • Proves that lack of context cues leads to forgetting
• What did Goodwin do? (AO3- strength) 


  • investigated state cues in male volunteers
  • Ppts were given a list of words to learn then recall 24 hours later
  • 4 groups - mixing drunk and sober , sober and sober, drunk and drunk
  • Best recall was drunk(l) + drunk(r) and sober(l) + sober(r) as state cues were available
  • Lack of state cues leads to forgetting
• When are context cues eliminated ? (AO3 - weakness)


  When info is meaningful - explanation is weak as it doesn’t explain all types of forgetting
• One weakness of retrieval failure 


  Retrieval failure only explains simple everyday forgetting such as why you entered a room.

  It cannot explain why we forget chunks of information