Explanations for Forgetting: Retrieval Failure

• Define 'retrieval failure'

  A form of forgetting that occurs when we don't have the necessary cues available to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible until a suitable cue is provided.
• Define 'cue'

  A cue is a trigger of information that helps us to access memory. These cues may be meaningful or indirectly linked at encoding.
• What is the Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP)

  - Tulving (1983) reviewed research into retrieval failure and found a pattern in findings. He summarised this into the ESP.

  - The ESP states that in order for a cue to be helpful, it must be present at encoding and present at retrieval.

  - It also says that if the cues at encoding and retrieval are different, some forgetting will take place.
• Define 'context-dependent forgetting'

  Recall depends on an external cue, e.g. weather or a place.
• Define 'state-dependent forgetting'

  Recall depends on an internal cue, e.g. feeling upset or being drunk.
• Research on context-dependent forgetting

  - Godden and Baddeley (1975) studied deep-sea divers who work underwater to see if training on land could help or hinder their work underwater.

  - They were given a list of words and placed in one of 4 conditions:

  - Learn on land, recall on land

  - Learn on land, recall underwater

  - Learn underwater, recall on land

  - Learn underwater, recall underwater

  - They found that accurate recall decreased by 40% when participants learnt and recalled the words in different environments.

  - They concluded that the external cues available at learning were different to the external cues at retrieval, and this led to retrieval failure.
• Research on state-dependent forgetting


  - Carter and Cassaday (1998) gave antihistamine drugs to participants, having a mild sedative effect.

  - The drowsiness caused created an internal physiological environment that was different from an ordinary state of being awake and alert.

  - Participants had to learn a list of words and prose passages in one of 4 conditions:

  - Learn on drug, recall on drug

  - Learn on drug, recall when not on drug

  - Learn when not on drug, recall when on drug

  - Learn when not on drug, recall when not on drug

  - In conditions where the states of learning and recall were different, performance and accurate recall was significantly worse.
• Evaluating retrieval failure: Real-world application


  - A strength is that cues can be used to overcome forgetting in everyday situations.

  - Despite cues not having a very strong effect on forgetting, Baddeley still says that they're worth paying attention to.

  - When we have trouble remembering something, it is good to make the effort to recall the environment in which you learnt it.

  - This shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to overcome forgetting.
• Evaluating retrieval failure: Research support (with counterpoint)

  - Another strength is that there is wide range of supporting studies.

  - Godden and Baddeley's (1975) and Carter and Cassaday's (1998) studies show how retrieval failure can cause context-dependent and state-dependent forgetting respectively.

  - Eysenck and Keane (2010) argue that retrieval failure is possible the main reason for forgetting in LTM.

  - This evidence shows that retrieval failure occurs in real-world situations as well as in the highly-controlled laboratory environment.

  
  

  - Counterpoint: However, Baddeley (1997) argues that context effects aren't that strong, especially in everyday life.

  - Different contexts have to contrast greatly in order for there to be any difference. For example, everyday environments as different as land and underwater (Godden and Baddeley) would be very rare.

  - On the other hand, learning something in one room and recalling it in another wouldn't lead to much forgetting as the environments are too similar.

  - This means that retrieval failure due to lack of contextual cues may not explain much everyday forgetting.
• Evaluating retrieval failure: Recall vs recognition


  - A limitation is that context effects may largely depend on the type of memory being tested.

  - Godden and Baddeley (1980) replicated their underwater experiment but used a recognition test rather than recall.

  - Participants had to say if they recognised a word read to them from a list rather than having to retrieve it themselves.

  - When recognition was tested, there was no context-dependent effect, as performance was the same in all 4 conditions.

  - This suggests that retrieval failure is a limited explanation of forgetting as it only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognising it.
• Evaluating retrieval failure: Problems with the ESP

  - There is lots of evidence that forgetting takes place when there is an mismatch/absence of encoding and retrieval cues.

  - We don't know if it is possible to independently establish whether a cue is encoded or not; the reasoning is based on assumptions and circular.

  - In an experiment, if a cue didn't produce recall, we assume that it cannot have been encoded. If the cue did produce recall then we assume that it must have been encoded.