Retrieval failure - a form of forgetting, which 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
Cue - a trigger of information that allows us to access a memory
There are 2 types of retrieval failure:
Context-dependent forgetting - when information is forgotten because the environment during recall is different from the environment you were in when you were learning.
State dependent forgetting - when information is forgotten because your mood or physiological state during recall is different from the mood/state you were in when you were learning
Godden and Baddeley
Divers learnt a list of words either underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land
Accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions
The external cues available at learning were different from ones at recall and this led to retrieval failure
Carter and Cassiday
Participants learnt a list of words either on antihistamines or not and then were asked to recall the words either on antihistamines or not (these would make them slightly drowsy).
Performance was significantly worse in non-matching conditions.
This shows when cues are absent there is more forgetting
Baddeley argued context effects are actually not very strong, especially in real life situations. Different contexts have to be very different before an effect is seen
Godden and Baddeley replicated their experiment using a recognition test instead of recall test (pps say whether they recognise a word read to them rather than recall). When recognition was tested, they found no difference in the different contexts