A03 RF

• X evidence to contradict context dep from baddeley 1997?

  • argues that context effects are not actually that strong especially in real life
  • different contexts have to be very different before specific effect is seen
  • the difference is only valid in extreme circumstances meaning its difficult to generalise findings of research to real life explanations of forgetting
• X evidence to contradict context dep from baddeley 1980?

  • replicated his underwater experiment but used recognition test instead of recall
  • p had to say whether they recognised a word read to them from list
  • when tested performance was same in all 4 conditions
  • ? internal
  • it suggests that the presence/absence of cues only affects memory when you test it in certain way thus cannot be applied to retrieval failure in all situations
• X evidence to suggest retrieval cues do not work?

  • could be suggested that info that you are learning is related alot more to "recall" than just cues
  • smith & vela 2001 believe that context effects are largely eliminated when learning meaningful material compared to material with no meaning
  • suggests that if material we learn has "meaning" we do not require cues to allow us to recall successfully
• X evidence to contradict from nairne?

  • nairne 2002 criticised what he calls "myth of the encoding retrieval match"
  • claims relationship between encoding cues & later retrieval is correlation not causation
  • cannot establish cause & effect relationship between presence of cues & our ability to retrieve info
  • so absence of cues cannot be viewed as only reason for forgetting info
• * practical applications?

  • research has suggested that can be used to improve recall when needed
  • abernethy 1940 suggests you ought to revise in room where you will be taking exam
  • may be unrealistic but smith 1979 showed that just "thinking of the room" where you did original learning was just as effective as actually being in same room at time of retrieval
  • shows how with presence of context dep cues means you are less likely to forget