Explanations for forgetting: retrieval failure

• A lack of cues can cause…

  Retrieval failure
• what is retrieval failure

  • when information is initially placed in memory, associated cues are stored at the same time
  • if the cues are not available at the time of retrieval, you might not access memories that are actually there
• what is the encoding specificity principle (Tulving 1983)


  cues help retrieval if the same ones are present both

  1. at encoding (when we learn the material)
  2. at retrieval (when we are recalling it)

  if the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different (or entirely absent) there will be some forgetting
• who came up with the encoding specificity principle?


  tulving - 1983
• Meaningful links - the cue ’STM’ leads you to recall lots of meaningful material about short term memory
• not meaningful links:

  • context dependent forgetting
  • state dependent forgetting
• what is context dependent forgetting?

  recall depends on external cue (e.g. weather or a place)
• what is state dependent forgetting?

  recall depends on internal cue (e.g. feeling upset, being drunk)
• who researched context dependent forgetting?

  Godden and Baddeley - 1975
• what was the procedure of Godden and Baddeleys research

  deep sea divers learned word lists and were later asked to recall them:

  • condition 1: learn on land - recall on water
  • condition 2: learn on land - recall underwater
  • condition 3: learn underwater -recall on land
  • condition 4: learn underwater - recall underwater
• what were the findings of godden and baddeleys research?


  accurate recall was 40% lower in conditions 2 and 3 (mismatched contexts) than in conditions 1 and 4 (matched contexts)
• what was the conclusion of Godden and Baddeleys research?


  retrieval failure was due to absence of encoded context cues at time of recall - material was not accessible (i.e. forgotten)
• who researched state dependent forgetting?

  Carter and Cassaday - 1998
• what was the procedure of carter and cassaday‘s study

  participants learned lists of words/prose and later recalled them

  • condition 1: learn when on drug - recall on drug
  • condition 2: learn when on drug - recall not on drug
  • condition 3: learn when not on drug - recall on drug
  • condition 4: learn when not on drug - recall not on drug
• what were the findings of Carter and Cassaday’s research?


  recall was significantly worse in conditions 2 and 3 (mismatched cues) compared with conditions 1 and 4 (matched cues)
• what was the conclusion of Carter and Cassaday’s research?


  when the cues at encoding are absent at retrieval (e.g. you are drowsy when recalling material but had been alert when you learned it) then there is more forgetting
• One strength is that retrieval cues have real world application


  People often go to another room to get an item but forget what they wanted, but they remember again when they go back to the original room. When we have trouble remembering something, it’s worth making the effort to recall the environment in which you learnt it first. This shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall
• another strength is the impressive range of supporting evidence

  for example Godden and Baddeley (divers) and Carter and Cassaday (drugs) show that lack of cues at recall leads to everyday forgetting. in fact, Eysenck and Keane (2010) argue that retrieval failure is perhaps the main reason for forgetting in LTM. this evidence shows that retrieval failure due to a lack of cues occurs in everyday life as well as highly controlled labs
• another strength is the impressive range of supporting evidence: counterpoint

  Baddeley (1997) argues that different contexts have to be very different before an effect is seen e.g. on land vs underwater. learning something in one room and recalling it in another is unlikely to result in much forgetting because the environments aren't different enough. this means that retrieval failure due to a lack of contextual cues may not explain much everyday forgetting
• one limitation is that context effects vary in recall and recognition

  Godden and Baddeley (1980) replicated their underwater experiment using a recognition test instead of recall. there was no context dependent effect. findings were the same in all 4 conditions whether the contexts for learning and recall were matched or not. this suggests that retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognise it.