Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval failure

• What is retrieval failure in memory?

  Inability to access memory due to lack of cues
• What happens to a memory when a cue is provided?

  The memory becomes accessible for recall
• What did Godden and Baddeley's findings indicate about recall performance?

  Lower recall in non-matching conditions
• What was the procedure in Godden and Baddeley's study on context-dependent forgetting?

  • Studied divers working underwater
  • Divers learned words either underwater or on land
  • Four conditions for recall:

  1. Learn on land, recall on land
  2. Learn on land, recall underwater
  3. Learn underwater, recall on land
  4. Learn underwater, recall underwater
• What caused retrieval failure in Godden and Baddeley's study?

  Different external cues at learning and recall
• What was the procedure in Carter and Cassaday's study on state-dependent forgetting?

  • Gave antihistamine drugs to participants
  • Created a drowsy psychological state
  • Participants learned a list and prose
  • Four conditions for recall:

  1. Learn on drug, recall on drug
  2. Learn not on drug, recall on drug
  3. Learn on drug, recall not on drug
  4. Learn not on drug, recall not on drug
• What did Carter and Cassaday's findings reveal about internal states during recall?

  Mismatched states led to worse recall performance
• What does the research on state-dependent forgetting suggest about cues?

  Absence of cues increases forgetting likelihood