retrieval failure

• what is retrieval failure

  a form of forgetting
• when does retrieval failure occur

  when we don't have the necessary cues to access memory

  the memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided
• what are cues

  a trigger of information that allows us to access a memory

  must be meaningful or indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning
• what happens if cues are unavailable

  if cues are unavailable or not present at recall it may appear that you have forgotten the information but it is just dues to retrieval failure
• who researched retrieval failure

  Tulving 1983
• what did Tulving find

  Tulving reviewed research into retrieval failure and discovered a consistent pattern to the findings

  he summarised this pattern into what he called the encoding specificity principle
• what is encoding specificity principle

  a pattern that states that a cue must be both 1) present at encoding and 2) present at retrieval
• what if the cues are different

  if the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different there will be some forgetting
• how are some cues encoded

  some cues are encoded at the time of learning in a meaningful way

  such cues are used in many mnemonic techniques
• examples of non-meaningful cues

  context-dependent forgetting

  state-dependent forgetting
• what is context-dependent forgetting

  recalls depends on external cues

  e.g. weather
• what is state dependent forgetting

  recall dependent on internal cues

  e.g. feeling upset, being drunk
• who researched context-dependent forgetting

  Godden and Baddeley (1975)
• procedure of Godden and Baddeley

  studies deep-sea divers who work underwater to see if training on land helped or hindered their work

  the divers learned a list of words either underwater or on land and asked to recall them in or out of the water
• the four conditions of Godden and Baddely's research

  learn on land- recall on land

  learn on land- recall in water

  learn in water- recall on land

  learn in water- recall in water
• findings of Godden and Baddeley

  accurate recall = 40% lower in non-matching conditions
• what did Godden and Baddeley conclude

  they concluded that external cues available at learning were different from the ones available at recall so lead to retrieval failure
• who researched state-dependent forgetting

  Carter and Cassaday (1998)
• procedure of Carter and Cassaday

  gave antihistamine drugs to their participants the participants had to learn lists of words and passages of pose and then recall the information in 4 conditions
• Carter and Cassaday's four conditions

  learn on drug- recall on drug

  learn on drug- recall off drug

  learn off drug- recall on drug

  learn off drug - recall off drug
• effect of antihistamines

  antihistamines had a mild sedative effect, making the participants slightly drowsy

  creates an internal physiological state different from the 'normal' state or being awake and alert
• findings of Carter and Cassaday

  in the mismatch conditions= recall was significantly worse
• conclusion of Carter and Cassaday

  when cues are absent there is more forgetting
• strengths of research into retrieval failure

  real world application- retrieval cues can be used to overcome forgetting in everyday situations

  research support

  support from both lab and field experiments
• limitations of retrieval failure

  Baddely argues that context effects aren't actually very strong - suggests retrieval failure doesn't explain everyday forgetting

  limited explanation- only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognise it

  most research is lab based-lacks ecological validity