Retrieval failure

• What are retrieval cues?


  Retrieval cues are stimuli that help you retrieve a certain memory.
• What is the Encoding Specificity Principle? 


  If a retrieval cue is present at both encoding and at retrieval, we will retrieve information more efficiently, especially if the cue is linked in a meaningful way.
• When does retrieval failure happen? 


  • Retrieval failure happens when we don't have the necessary cues to access memory. This memory is available but not accessible without a suitable cue.
• Which type of retrieval failure did Tulving prove?


  Encoding specificity
• Which type of retrieval failure did Baddley and Godden prove?


  Context dependent forgetting
• Which type of retrieval failure did Marian and Fausey prove? 


  State dependent forgetting
• Which type of retrieval failure did Goodwin prove? 


  State dependent forgetting
• What are the two types of Cue dependent forgetting? 


  • context dependent forgetting
  • state dependent forgetting
• What is context dependent forgetting? 


  When the missing cues that allow you to remember are based on the environment around you whilst learning.
• What is State dependent forgetting? 


  When the missing cues that allow you to remember something are based on your physiology or mental state whilst learning.
• Procedure of Godden and Baddley. 


  18 divers were asked to memorise a list of unrelated words. Some learnt on a beach and some learnt whilst in the ocean. Half from each group remained there whilst recalling and the other half moved to the opposite location.
• Results of Godden and Baddley. 


  The external context of their location acted as a cue, meaning those who recalled in the same environment they learnt in had more accurate recall.
• Evaluation of Godden and Baddley 


  • limited ecological validity due to all the participants being divers and the test was artificial
  • Groups were disrupted when they moved
  • It was a controlled experiment so very reliable.
  • Is applied to real life situations such as cognitive police interviews.
  • Doesn't prove whether information is not recalled due to lack of storage or providing wrong cue.
  • further research - Abernathy (1940)
• Marian and Fausey procedure 


  Chilean participants were given four stories of varying topics: two in Spanish and two in English. They were then asked questions about the stories, some in the same language as the stories and some in the other language.
• Marian and Fausey results 


  Those who recalled in the same language they heard the story had better accuracy.
• Evaluation of Marian and Fausey 


  • Difference in fluency between each laguage could effect the results.
  • The different types of stories could influence the answering of the questions rather than the language
  • Questions about one text may be individually considered harder.
• Procedure of Goodwin 


  48 male medical student were asked to remember a list of words either drunk or sober and recall after 24 hours. The groups were:

  • SS - sober both days
  • AA - Intoxicated both days
  • AS - intoxicated on day 1 and sober on day 2
  • SA - sober on day 1 and intoxicated on day 2
• Results of Goodwin 


  Information learnt whilst drunk was better recalled in the same state. AS and SA groups had worse recall on day 2.
• Evaluation of Goodwin 


  • Limited ecological validity - tasks were artificial
  • Participants knew they were being tested - demand characteristics
  • Controlled experiment - reliable
  • Further support - Overton (1964)
  • Sample only includes men and medical students and cannot be generalised.
  • Used in cognitive interviews.