retrieval failure

• Retrieval failure


  Cue dependent Forgetting explanation for forgetting based on an absence of cues that were present when the memory was learned
• Students' memories of content may be cue-dependent, where the cues that were present in the classroom when they learned the material are absent during the test</b>
• Context may be worse for recall during the test in an unfamiliar environment
• Tulving et al. study


  1. Participants learned 6 word lists

  2. Words were divided into categories

  3. 1st condition: no information about categories

  4. 2nd condition: participants told the categories in advance

  5. Findings: recall was higher when participants knew the categories in advance
• Presence of cues


  Recall rates of 70% compared to 50% without cues
• State dependent Forgetting


  People find it easier to recall information when they are in the same emotional or physical state as when they originally learned it
• If a person learned something when they were upset, they are less likely to recall it when they are happy
• Goodwin et al. study


  1. 48 male medical students learned a list of words either drunk or sober

  2. Recalled the words 24 hours later, either in the same state or the opposite state

  3. Findings: words learned drunk were more easily recalled when tested drunk again, words learned in one state were harder to recall in the opposite state