forgetting- retrieval failure

• Retrieval failure

  Occurs when we don't have the necessary cues to access memory- the memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided.
• cues

  A trigger of information that allows us to access a memory.

  The reason we forget information may be because of insufficient cues.

  When information is initially placed in memory, associated cues are stored.

  If these cues aren't available at the time of recall you can't access the memories.
• Encoding specificity principle

  Tulving reviewed research into retrieval failure:

  A cue has to be present at encoding and present at retrieval.

  If the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different there will be some forgetting.

  • Context-dependent forgetting= recall depends on external cues(weather, a place)
  • State-dependent forgetting= recall depends on internal cues(feeling upset)
• Research- context dependent forgetting

  Godden and Baddeley studied deep sea divers who work underwater to see if training on land helped or hindered their work underwater.

  • Divers learned a list of words either underwater or on land and asked to recall the words either underwater or on land.
  • Environmental contexts of learning and recall matched +others didn't.
  • Accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions.
  • concluded external cues available at learning were different from the one available at recall and this lead to retrieval failure.
• Research- state dependent forgetting

  Carter and Cassaday gave antihistamine drugs to participants (mild sedative effect) - creates an internal physiological state.

  -participants had to learn lists of words and prose then recall information.

  • There was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance on memory test was worse.
  • so when cues are absent there is more forgetting.
• Evaluation- real world application

  Cues can help overcome some forgetting in everyday situations.

  Baddeley suggests cues are important- eg: when you go get something from another room but forget when u enter the room- then re-remember when you go in the 1st room again.

  • when we have trouble remembering something, it's worth making the effort to recall the environment in which you learnt it.
  • shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve recall.
• Evaluation- research support

  supports retrieval failure explanation:

  • Godden, Baddeley, Carter and Cassaday- show that a lack of cues at recall can lead to context-development and state-dependent forgetting.
  • memory researchers argue that retrieval failure is the main reason for forgetting from LTM.
  • Shows retrieval failure occurs in real life and controlled lab conditions.
• Evaluation- counterpoint

  Baddeley argued that context effects aren't very strong (in everyday life)

  Different contexts have to be very different.- eg: underwater experiment, but 2 different rooms aren't enough.

  • This means that retrieval failure is due to a lack of contextual cues may not explain much everyday forgetting.
• Evaluation- recall vs recognition

  limitation= context effects may depend on type of memory being tested.

  Godden and Baddeley replicated underwater experiment but used a recognition test instead of recall. - so there was no context dependent effect, performance was the same.

  • suggests retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognise it.