Retrieval Failure

• Who proposed the encoding specificity principle?

  Tulving (1983)
• What did Tulving (1983) suggest about the encoding specificity principle?


  Tulving suggested that cues have to be present at encoding and retrieval in order for us to be able to recall the information
• What are the 2 types of cue-dependant forgetting?

  • Context-dependant forgetting
  • State-dependant forgetting
• What is context-dependant forgetting?

  • It is where remembering depends on the environment
  • We are more likely to forget when the place of learning (encoding) and the place of recall (retrieval) are different due to the lack of environmental cues
• When writing about explanations for forgetting, what must you remember?


  • You must use the word "forget" not remembering
• Who investigated context-dependant forgetting?

  Godden and Baddeley (1975)
• What were the conditions Godden and Baddeley (1975) used?


  • Learn on land, recall on land
  • Learn on land, recall underwater
  • Learn underwater, recall underwater
  • Learn underwater, recall on land
• What was the aim and procedure of Godden and Baddeley (1975)'s experiment?

  • Memory study
  • The divers were asked to learn and recall a list from a list of 4 conditions
• What was the results of Godden and Baddeley (1975)'s experiment?

  Forgetting was less likely when the context during encoding and retrieval are the same
• What is state-dependant forgetting?

  • It is where remembering depends on our internal state
  • We are more likely to forget when our state of consciousness during encoding is not the same during retrieval due to the lack of internal cues
• Who investigated state-dependant forgetting?

  Carter and Cassaday (1998)
• What was the procedure of Carter and Cassaday (1998) experiment?

  • Participants were given antihistamine drugs (for treating hay fever).
  • Participants were given lists of words to learn and recall in one of 4 conditions
• What are the 4 conditions in the Carter and Cassaday (1998) experiment?


  • Learn on drug, recall on drug
  • Learn on drug, recall off drug
  • Learn off drug, recall off drug
  • Learn off drug, recall on drug
• What were the results from Carter and Cassaday (1998) experiment?

  Participants are more likely to forget if the internal state are different at the time of encoding and retrieval
• What are strengths of retrieval failure?

  • Range of research - Carter and Cassaday (1998), Godden and Baddeley (1975)
  • Cues have everyday application - high external validity
• What are limitations of retrieval failure?

  • Carter and Cassaday (1998) did their experiment in a lab - artificial setting
  • Context isn't as important as emphasized as the contexts have to be very different before there is an effect - Baddeley (1997)