Explanations of Forgetting: Retrieval Failure

• context dependent forgetting


  occurs when the environment during recall is different from the environment an individual was in when they were learning the info to be recalled
• Godden and Baddeley


  carried out a study about deep sea divers working underwater.

  procedure: in this study the divers learned a list of words either underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land

  4 conditions:

  1. learn on land - recall on land

  2. learn on land - recall underwater

  3. learn underwater - recall on land

  4. learn underwater - recall underwater

  findings: 2 of these conditions the environmental contexts of learning + recall matched, whereas the other 2 they didn't.

  accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions

  external cues available at learning were different from the ones of recall -> led to retrieval failure
• CDF Strength - further support by Abernathy

  Abernathy found that students performed better in tests if the tests took place in the same room as the learning of the material had taken place and if the tests were administered by the same instructor who had taught the info.

  this supports the theory of context-dependent forgetting as it showed that recall is worse when the coding and recall environment are different
• CDF Weakness - criticised as being artificial

  in real life situations individuals don't use their memory to remember strings/lists of words. individual memory is used to remember more complex pieces on info.

  weakness -> can be argued that Godden and Baddeley's memory test isn't reflective of real-life memory.

  means the task is artificial and findings can be criticised for having low ecological validity
• State dependent forgetting


  occurs when your mood or physiological state during recall is different from the mood you were in when you were learning
• Carter and Cassidy


  procedure: gave an anti-histamine drugs to their ppts. the anti-histamines had a mild-sedative effect making the ppts feel drowsy. this creates an internal physiological state different from the 'normal' state of being awake + alert

  4 conditions:

  1. learn on drug - recall when on it

  2. learn on drug - recall when not on it

  3. learn not on drug - recall when on it

  4. learn not on drug - recall when not on it

  findings: in conditions where there was a mismatch between internal state of learning + recall, performance on the memory test was significantly worse

  when cues are absent then there's more forgetting
• SDF Strength - practical applications

  although context-related cues appear not to have a very strong effect on forgetting, Baddeley still suggests they're worth paying attention to

  for instance, we have probably all had the following experience: you're upstairs in your bedroom and you think 'I must go and get such and such an item from downstairs

  this is a basic principle of the cognitive interview, a method of getting eyewitnesses to crimes to recall more info.

  e.g. reinstate the context where the witness should return to the original crime scene + imagine the environment
• SDF Strength - support from Overton

  Overton carried out a study very similar to that of Carter and Cassidy

  they asked ppts to learn material when either drunk or sober and found worse recall when ppts were in a different internal state at recall to the internal state they were in at coding.

  supports the theory of state-dependent forgetting because it shows that recall is worse when the individuals internal state at coding and recall are different, suggesting that state-dependent forgetting is a valid explanation of forgetting
• SDF Weakness - task criticised as being artificial

  ppts were remembering lists of words -> lacks mundane realism

  taking anti-histamine drugs -> creates artificial internal/external state or environment