DT

• Point

  A further limitation of retrieval failure due to absence of cues is that there are alternative explanations for forgetting.
• E+E


  One such theory is repression, whereby emotionally threatening events are thought to be banished into the unconscious mind to prevent the heightened anxiety they may cause

  (e.g. many 2nd World War Veterans who suffered battlefield trauma repress their memories of the battlefield.)

  This suggests that heightened anxiety inhibits memory retrieval, rather than a lack of cues.
• Link

  As a result, Cue-Dependent Memory as an explanation for forgetting loses explanatory power.
• A further limitation of retrieval failure due to absence of cues is that there are alternative explanations for forgetting. One such theory is repression, whereby emotionally threatening events are thought to be banished into the unconscious mind to prevent the heightened anxiety they may cause (e.g. many 2nd World War Veterans who suffered battlefield trauma repress their memories of the battlefield.) This suggests that heightened anxiety inhibits memory retrieval, rather than a lack of cues. As a result, Cue-Dependent Memory as an explanation for forgetting loses explanatory power.