retrieval failure (explanations for forgetting)

• Retrieval failure due to the absence of cues

  • When information is initially place in memory, associated cues are stored at the same time
  • If the cues are not available at the time of retrieval, you might not access memories that are actually there
• encoding specificity principle (Tulving)

  • Cues help retrieval if the same ones are present both at encoding (when we learn the material) and at retrieval (when we are recalling)
  • If the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different (or if cues are entirely absent) there will be some forgetting
• links between encoded cues and material to-be- remembered

  • Meaningful links = the cue ‘STM’ leads you to recall lots of material about short-term memory
  • Not meaningful links:
  • Context-dependent forgetting = recall depends on external cue (eg weather or a place)
  • State-dependent forgetting = recall depends on internal cue (eg feeling upset, being drunk)
• Context-dependent forgetting, Godden and Baddeley (procedure)

  • 18 deep-sea divers learned word lists and were later asked to recall them:
  • Condition 1 = learn on land - recall on land
  • Condition 2 = learn on land - recall underwater
  • Condition 3 = learn underwater - recall on land
  • Condition 4 = learn underwater - recall underwater
• Context-dependent forgetting, Godden and Baddeley (findings/conclusions)

  • Accurate recall was 40% lower in conditions 2 and 3 (mismatched contexts) than in conditions 1 and 4 (matched contexts)
  • Retrieval failure was due to absence of encoded context cues at time of recall - material was not accessible (ie forgotten)
• State-dependent forgetting, Carter and Cassaday (procedure)

  • Participants learned lists of words/prose and later recalled them:
  • Condition 1 = learn when on drug - recall on drug
  • Condition 2 = learn when on drug - recall not on drug
  • Condition 3 = learn when not on drug - recall on drug
  • Condition 4 = learn when not on drug - recall not on drug
• State-dependent forgetting, Carter and Cassaday (findings/conclusions)

  • Recall was significantly worse in conditions 2 and 3 (mismatched cues) compared with conditions 1 and 4 (matched cues)
  • When the cues at encoding are absent at retrieval then there is more forgetting
  • Eg = you are drowsy when recalling material but had been alert when you learned it
• strength = retrieval cues have RWA

  • People often go to another room to get an item but forget what they wanted, but they remember again when they go back to the original room
  • When we have trouble remembering something, it is probably worth making the effort to recall the environment in which you learned it first
  • The shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall
• strength = the impressive range of supporting evidence

  • eg = Godden and Baddeley (divers) and Carter and Cassaday (drugs) show that lack of cues at recall leads to everyday forgetting
  • Eysenck and Keane = argue that retrieval failure is perhaps is perhaps the main reason for forgetting in LTM
  • This evidence shows that retrieval failure due to lack of cues occurs in everyday life as well as in highly-controlled labs
• counterpoint to supporting evidence

  • Baddeley = argues that different contexts have to be very different indeed before an effect is seen (eg on land vs underwater)
  • Learning something in one room and recalling it in another is unlikely to result in much forgetting because the environments are not different enough
  • Means that retrieval failure due to lack of contextual cues may not explain much everyday forgetting
• limitation = context effects vary in recall and recognition

  • Godden and Baddeley = replicated their underwater experiment using a recognition test instead of recall
  • There was no context-dependent effect = findings were the same in all four conditions whether the contexts for learning and recall matched or not
  • This suggests that retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting beauties it only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognise it
• extra evaluation = problems with the ESP

  • Retrieval failure theory is supported by research showing that forgetting occurs when there is a mismatch (or absence) of cues - the encoding specificity principle (ESP)
  • BUT = we cannot independently establish whether a cue has really been encoded or not, so the argument for the role of cues is circular
  • => the ESP is not scientifically testable, so we cannot be certain that forgetting is due to retrieval failure