Retrieval Failure

• Why does retrieval failure occur?

  • Due to the lack of cues
  • When information is placed into the memory associated cues are stored at the same time.
  • If the cues aren't available at time of retrieval then you might not be able to access the memories that are there
• What is the encoding specificity principle?

  Memory retrieval is most effective when the conditions at the time of learning are the same as the conditions at the time of retrieval.
• What are the three types of cues?

  • Organisation cues
  • Context cues
  • State cues
• What are organisation cues?

  Disorganised information is more likely to be forgotten
• What are context cues?

  Context dependent forgetting happens when the environment during recall is different
• What are state cues?

  Occurs when your mood or psychological state during recall is different from the state you are in when learning. So no internal cues to jog memories
• How did Godden and Baddeley investigate retrieval failure?

  • They investigates the effect of environmental cues on recall.
  • Deep sea divers learned word lists and were asked to recall them.
  • There were four conditions
• What were the 4 conditions in Godden and Baddeley's experiment?

  • Condition 1 - learn on land and recall on land
  • Condition 2 - learn on land and recall underwater
  • Condition 3 - Learn underwater and recall underwater
  • Condition 4 - Learn underwater and recall on land
• What were the findings of Godden and Baddeley's research?

  Accurate recall was 40% lower in mismatched conditions than in matched conditions
• What was the conclusion of Godden and Baddeley's research?

  Retrieval failure as due to absence of encoded context cues at the time of recall - material was not accessible
• How did Goodwin et al (1969) investigate state cues?

  • Had 48 medical students in 4 different conditions.
  • They were given cognitive tasks on day one and on day two they were tested to see how state cues affect memory
• What were the 4 conditions in Goodwins research?

  • Condition 1 - sober on both days
  • Condition 2 - intoxicated on both days
  • Condition 3 - intoxicated on day 1, sober on day 2
  • Condition 4 - sober on day 1, intoxicated on day 2
• What were the findings of Goodwin et als experiment?

  • Condition 1 - perfect score
  • Condition 2 - only a few mistakes
  • Condition 3 - lots of errors
  • Condition 4 - loads of errors made
• Strength of retrieval cues:

  • Real world application
  • People often go into another room and forget what they were going to do but they remember when they go back into the original room