Retrieval Failure

• What is memory retrieval failure?

  Lack of accessibility, not availability
• What triggers memory retrieval failure?

  Absence of cues
• Who proposed the Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP)?

  Tulving
• What is key to better recall according to ESP?

  Encoding-retrieval overlap
• What happens when there is a mismatch between cues at encoding and retrieval?

  Forgetting occurs
• How does context aid memory retrieval?

  Familiar settings prompt recall
• What did Godden & Baddeley (1975) study demonstrate?

  Recall is better in matched environments
• What is state-dependent forgetting?

  Physical/mental state impacts recall
• What did Goodwin (1969) find in his alcohol study?

  Recall improved in the same state
• How does exercise affect recall according to Miles & Hardman (1998)?

  Exercise improves state-matched recall
• What are the strengths and limitations of retrieval failure theory?

  Strengths:

  • Research support for retrieval failure
  • Validates real-life applications

  
  

  Limitations:

  • Context often has weak influence
  • Recall vs. recognition differences
  • Unfalsifiable principle of ESP
• What did Eysenck (2010) link to retrieval failure?

  LTM forgetting
• Why is context often considered a weak influence on memory retrieval?

  Practical contexts are not distinct enough
• How does context affect recall versus recognition?

  Context impacts recall, not recognition
• What did Godden & Baddeley (1980) find about recognition?

  Recognition was unaffected by context
• What is a limitation of the Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP)?

  It is an unfalsifiable principle
• Why is it difficult to verify absent cues during learning in ESP?

  Cues are presumed present when recall is successful