retrieval failure

• what is retrieval failure

  an explanation for forgetting in the LTM
• what does the retrieval failure theory say

  that we forget because we cannot retrieve infomation from the LTM as we don't have the appropriate context or cues
• what is an example of retrieval failure

  during an exam you cannot recall something but you know you know the answer you would be able to recall it if you had a cue
• what did Brown and McNeill call retrieval failure

  tip of the tongue phenomenon
• what is encoding specificity principle (ESP)

  the idea that cues help retrieval if the same ones are present at both encoding and retrieval
• who discovered ESP and how

  Tulving and he reviewed research into retrieval failure and discovered a consistent pattern to the findings
• what is a cue

  something which can provide a trigger to memory and so makes forgetting less likely
• what can cue be

  they can be meaningful or may be indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning
• what are the 2 types of cues

  context dependent forgetting or state dependent forgetting
• what is context dependent forgetting

  it is a lack of external cues
• what is an example of context dependent cues

  the room, weather, anything outside of you
• what is state dependent forgetting

  lack of internal forgetting
• what is an example of state dependent cues

  emotions or being happy
• what is the name of the study about retrieval failure

  the deep sea diver study
• who conducted the deep sea diver study

  Godden and Baddeley
• what was the aim of the deep sea diver study

  to investigate if context affects recall
• what was the method of the deep sea diver study

  deep sea divers learned a list of words either underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the word either underwater or on land
• what were the 4 conditions of the deep sea diver study

  • learn on land and recall on land
  • learn on land and recall underwater
  • learn underwater and recall on land
  • learn underwater and recall underwater
• what were the results if the deep sea diver study

  in 2 of these conditions the environmental conditions the contexts of learning and recalled matched whereas the other 2 did not accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions the external cues available at the time if learning were different from the ones at recall and this led to retrieval failure
• what was the conclusion of the deep sea diver study

  suggests that context dependent forgetting has occured because recall was poor when there was a lack of contact dependent cues available to aid memory
• what is a strength of retrieval failure (PEEL) (everyday app)

  P - a strength is that context related cues have useful everyday applications

  E - people often report such experiences such as being upstairs and came downstairs to get something only to forgetting what where needed but once they get back to their bedroom they experience a context dependent cue and remember

  E - this shows that when we have trouble remembering something it is best to return to the environment in which we first experience it as the cues will help your recall

  L - this has lead to further real life application as the police have developed a technique called 'context reinstatement' as a result of this
• what is a limitation of retrieval failure (PEEL) (strong)

  P - a limitation is that context effects are actually not very strong in real life

  E - Baddeley argued that the context have to be very different before an effect can be seen such as underwater and on land

  E - for example learning something in 1 room and then recalling it in another is unlikely to result in the forgetting as 2 environments are not different enough

  L - so the real life application of retrieval failure due to contextual cues does not explain much about day to day forgetting
• what is a strength of retrieval infomation(PE) (forgetting)

  P - a strength is that there is an impressive range of evidence supports this explanation of forgetting

  E - EG// gorden and baddeley conducted a study to investigate if context affects recall the deep sea divers were asked to learn and recall a list of words either underwater or on land they found that accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions and the external cues available at the time of learning were different from the ones at recall and this led to retrieval failure which suggest that context dependent forgetting has occurred because recall was poor when they was a lack of context dependent cues available to aid memory
• what is a strength of retrieval failure (EL) (forgetting)

  E - some researcher argue that retrieval failure is possibly the main reason for forgetting in the LTM

  L - supporting evidence increases the value of an explanation, especially when conducted in real life situations as well as the highly controlled conditions of a lab study