retrieval failure

• retrieval failure refers to difficulty in recalling information due to absence of cues
• cues are a trigger of information that allow us to access memory
• retrieval failure theory is when information is placed in memory - associated cues are stores at same time
• if cues are not available at the time of recall it can appear as if information is forgotten however it is just due to retrieval failure
• encoding specificity principle states if a cue is to help use recall information it must be present at encoding and at retrieval
• encoding = learning material

  retrieval = recalling matieral
• if cues are available at encoding and retrieval are different (cues or are absent) there will be forgetting
• 2 types of cues

  • external cues - context dependent learning (smells, places)
  • internal cues - state dependent learning (physical, emotional, mood)
• context dependent forgetting key studies

  • abernethy
  • godden and baddeley
• abernethy - context dependent forgetting study

  • arranged students to be tested weekly in 4 different experimental conditions
  • same room - same instructor, same room - dif instructor, dif room - same instructor, dif room - dif instructor
  • found when students were tested by same room - same instructor they performed best
  • concluded familiar things/context can act as memory cue
• godden and baddeley - context dependent forgetting study

  • deep sea divers - learnt list of words either underwater or land and recalled underwater or land
  • found accurate recall was 40% lower in non matching conditions due to cues being available for matching conditions (same cues when encoding and retrieval)
• state dependent forgetting key studies

  • carter and cassady
  • goodwin
  • miles and hardman
  • tulving and psota
• carter and cassady - state dependent forgetting study

  • gave antihistamines to ptts which had mild sedative effect = drowsy (creates psychological state of being less awake/alert)
  • ptts had to learn list of words then recall (learn on drug, recall on drug)
  • when there was mismatch between internal state at learning and recall performance on memory task was worse - internal cues were not same when encoding and retrieval took place
• goodwin - state dependent forgetting study

  • found people who drink alot often forget where they have put things when sober -could recall locations when drunk again
  • result of internal cues not present at both encoding and retrieval
• miles and hardman - state dependent forgetting study

  • found people who learnt list of words whilst exercising on exercise bike remembered them better when exercising than at rest
• tulving and psota - state dependent forgetting study

  • given 6 word lists to remember (24 words)
  • upon presented - ptts asked to write down as many words as they could remember - free recall
  • free recall conducted after all lists presented
  • ptts given category names+ asked to recall all words from lists - cued recall
  • according to interference theory - most lists learnt the worse ptts performance will be - provides evidence for retroactive interference
  • when ptts had cued recall - effects of interference disappeared - remembered 70% of words regardless of how many lists were given
• evaluation - retrieval failure - limitation for context effects

  • baddeley argues context affects arent strong - especially real life (different contexts have to be very different before effect is seen)
  • example - hard to find environment as different from land as underwater - learning something in one room and recalling in another is unlikely to result much forgetting as environments arent different enough
  • limitation because real life application of retrieval failure as result of contextual cues dont explain forgetting
• evaluation - retrieval failure - supporting evidence (+)

  • large amount of research to support retrieval failure as explanation for forgetting - godden and baddeley
  • eysenck argued retrieval failure is main reason for forgetting in LTM
  • strength as supporting evidence increases validity of explanation - true when evidence shows retrieval failure occurs in real life situations + highly controlled lab conditions
• evaluation - retrieval failure - recall vs recognition (-)

  • context effect may be related to memory being tested - godden and baddeley replicated underwater experiment using recognition test instead of recall
  • ptts had to say whether they recognised words read from list - opposed to retrieving themselves
  • recognition then tested - found there was no context dependent effect (external cues)
  • performance was same for all 4 conditions
  • therefore this contradicts previous research into context dependent forgetting because forgetting may not purely be down to external cues - memory tested