Retrieval failure

• Supporting evidence

  Godden and Baddeley (1975)- found that people who learnt and recalled either both underwater or on land recalled more accurately than if learnt in one area and then recalled in the other.
• Supporting evidence

  Overton (1972)- found that when people had the same internal state when recalling as when they learnt it. For example, if they learnt went drunk they were more likely to recall more accurately if they were also drunk.
• Practical applications

  It can be used to improve eyewitness recall in the cognitive interview.
• Application

  The environment must be very different to result in forgetting.
• Other explanations

  Interference