Retrieval failure

• Retrieval failure - due to absence of cues

  based on Tulving's encoding specifically theory, he argued that info is learned about an environment. Retrieval of information from LTM is optimised when internal state was present when information was coded.
• Context -dependent forgetting


  an individual attempts to retrieve information in a different environment to where the information was learnt.
• Godden and Baddeley research - context dependent 


  Divers acted as PP. They learned and recalled list of 40 words. There were 4 different groups and divers had to recall words in different environments to where information was learned. The greatest recall was when divers recalled and learned the list of words in the same environment. This supports encoding specifically as forgetting occurs when there is a lack of environmental cues. Being in a different recall environment means there is insufficient cues to trigger retrieval.
• State dependent forgetting 


  an individuals internal physical or mental state is dissimilar at recall to when information was coded.
• Goodwin et al - state dependent


  Male volunteers were asked to remember a list of words and recall in 24h. PP were either drunk or sober when learning and recalling the words. PP made more errors when their state was different when they were recalling the list to when they learbt it.
• Evaluation of retrieval failure

  • Research support - Angleton and Waskett external cues
  • Studied PP who attended Viking centre in York 6-7 years ago and were asked questions about the museum
  • PP performed better when the smell of the museum was recreated when answering questions
  • When there was a lack of environmental cues forgetting happens
• Practical application


  • Cognitive interview: police use this to help witnesses to remember what happened at a crime scene
  • Police encourage eyewitnesses to mentally recreate the crime, help trigger recall/details
• The context or state has to be different to have an effect on forgetting, but this doesn't often happen in real life
• The evaluation of retrieval failure lacks ecological validity