AO1

• Retrieval Failure


  When the non-meaningful cues necessary to access and recall a LTM are unavailable, so retrieval cannot occur
• Types of retrieval failure


  • Context-Dependent Forgetting (external cues)
  • State-Dependent Forgetting (internal cues)
• Context-Dependent Forgetting


  Forgetting occurring when external environment is different at recall from how it was at encoding
• Context-Dependent Forgetting Example


  • Scoring less marks in a test in an unfamiliar room
• State-Dependent Forgetting


  Forgetting occurring when internal environment is different at recall from how it was at encoding
• State-Dependent Forgetting Example


  • Remembering sober vs drunk
• Encoding Specificity Principle


  Cues must be present at both encoding and recall in order to help with retrieval. The absence of cues at encoding leads to retrieval failure (forgetting)
• Tulving et al. (1983) reviewed research into retrieval failure and found the Encoding Specificity Principle
• Godden+Baddeley (1975) controlled laboratory experiment Procedure


  • Used a repeated measures design
  • 18 divers learned a list of 36 unrelated words either on dry land or underwater
  • Divers then recalled the list in either the same or opposite environment to encoding
  • Order of conditions was counterbalanced
• Lists were recalled poorly when


  When it occurred in a different context to encoding
• Lists were recalled significantly better when


  When the environment was the same at both encoding and retrieval
• These findings demonstrate the phenomenon of context-dependent memory, suggesting that environmental context plays a significant role in memory recall