Retrieval failure

• Retrieval failure due to the absence of cues:

  The reason people forget information may be because of insufficient cues

  • When information is initially placed in memory, associated cues are stored at the same time
  • If these cues are not available at the time of recall, it may appear as if you have forgotten the information, but, in fact, this is due to retrieval failure - not being able to access memories that are there
• Retrieval failure - A form of forgetting. It 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 that enables access to memories
• Encoding specificity principle:

  • Endel Tulving (1983) reviewed research into retrieval failure and discovered a consistent pattern to the findings
  • He named this pattern encoding specificity principle
• Encoding specificity principle:

  States that if a cue is to help us recall information it has to be present at encoding (when we learn the material) and at retrieval (when we are recalling it)

  • Therefore if the cues present at encoding and retrieval are different then forgetting will occur
• Encoding specificity principle:

  • Some cues are linked to the information in a meaningful way
  • Other cues may also be encoded at the time of learning but not in a meaningful way, eg context-dependent forgetting (external cues) and state-dependent forgetting (internal cues)
• Encoding specificity principle: Examples of non-meaningful cues

  • Context-dependent forgetting - recall depends on external cue (eg weather or a place)
  • State-dependent forgetting - recall depends on internal cue (eg feeling upset, being drunk)
• Encoding specificity principle: Non-meaningful cues

  • Context-dependent forgetting - Recall depends on external cue
  • Eg: Weather or a place
• Encoding specificity principle: Non-meaningful cues

  • State-dependent forgetting - Recall depends on internal cue
  • Eg: feeling upset, being drunk