Retrieval Failure

• Encoding Specifity Principle states that forgetting from LTM is an accessibility issue rather than availability
• Tulving stated that cues can aid the retrieval process as long as they were present at the aquisition stage
• Cues are triggers of information that are encoded at the time of learning and stored with the information
• External/Context cues are part of the environment
• Internal/State cues are part of our own state
• Retrieval Failure is where the information is in long-term memory but cannot be accessed
• Context is the setting or situation in which the inormation is encoded and retrieved
• Retrieval is more likely when the context at encoding matches the context at retrieval
• Mood-state-dependent memory is where less forgetting occurs when the mood state at learning is the same as at retrieval
• Godden & Baddeley (1975) investigated Context-dependent forgetting by using divers
• The divers learnt information on land and underwater, and were then tested for retrieval in both conditions
• Godden & Baddeley found that recall was most accurate when context matched that at aquisition
• Carter & Cassaday (1998) investigated State-dependent forgetting by using antihistamine drugs to vary the participants mental state when learning and recalling information
• Carter & Cassaday found that recall was more accurate when state matched that at aquisition