Retrieval failure

• Retrieval Failure - forgetting long term memory. Difficulties in recall are due to the absence of correct retrieval cues.
• Tulving ( 1983 ) retrieval failure study. Internal and external cues can help facilitate recall of an LTM If they are similar to the situation where the memory was originally processed. Forgetting an LTM is due to lack of access to a memory rather than lack of availability of a memory.
• Godden and Baddeley retrieval failure. investigates whether context-dependent cues improve recall. 18 diving club members were asked to listen to 36 words either on a beach or underwater. After 4 minutes they were tested on how many word they can remember. In 2 conditions the state of learning and recall were the same and 2 were different.

  Results: when the conditions for learning And recalling were the same, the ability to recall is higher.
• Carter and Cassaday retrieval failure.

  24 ppts had to learn lists of words and passages and recall them. Their state was altered by giving them antihistamines, making them drowsy. In 2 conditions, the psychological state when learning and recalling were the same, and in the other 2 they did not match.

  Results: when internal states were different at the point of recall to learning performance was significantly worse.

  When state-dependent cues are missing, forgetting is more likely to occur.
• Godden and Baddeley retrieval failure AO3. They didnt control many variables. Divers took part at different times of day and at different locations. There may have been separate, different cues. This means that we can not determine whether results come from land/underwater cues, or other ones.
• Godden and Baddeley retrieval failure AO3. They used a repeated measures design, meaning all 4 ppts took part in all 4 trials. This can lead to demand characteristics, they may have worked out the aim and behaved differently. There may also be practice effects as recall might have improved by completing the experiment multiple times. Fatigue effects are also relevant as ppts may have become tired or bored. This means the experiment design may have had an impact on the results, however it would have been difficult to implement another design as trained, willing divers were needed.
• Godden and Baddeley retrieval failure AO3. They broke ethical guidelines. The study report states that “one diver was run over in an underwater experimental session by an ex-army amphibious DUKW“. This lacks protection from harm as ppts were placed in a dangerous situation. There should have been more precautions.