4.1.2 RETRIEVAL FAILURE

Question 1

what is retrieval failure / cue-dependent forgetting?
why two names?

Answer 1

• type of forgetting that occurs in long term memory
• based upon a failure to retrieve the prompts to trigger recall
• information is still in LTM but cannot be accessed

( - recall is dependent on accessing info by remembering the retrieval cue under which the info is stored )

• they mean the same thing but you have to know both

Question 2

what is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 2

proposed by Tulving in 1983

• if a cue is to help us in recall it has to be present at encoding and at retrieval
• if the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different, forgetting will occur
• cues are used in learning techniques
  eg) Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain

Question 3

what is context dependent failure?

Answer 3

• external retrieval cues
• forgetting occurs when the external environment is different at recall from when it was encoded
• eg) achieving fewer marks in a test when you take the test in a different room to where you learnt it
• retrieval is more likely when the context at encoding matches the context at retrieval

Question 4

what is state dependent failure?

Answer 4

• internal retrieval cues
• forgetting occurs when an individuals’ internal environment is dissimilar at recall to when the info was encoded

eg) Darley at al (1973)
- ppts who hid money while high on marijuana were less able to recall where the money was when they weren’t high
- when they were high again they were better able to recall where they hid the money

Question 5

what is organisation dependent failure?

Answer 5

• recall is improved if the organisation gives a structure which provides triggers

eg) categories

Question 6

what did Goddon and Baddely test in 1975?

Answer 6

• deep-sea scuba divers
• asked them to memorise a list of words

1 group: memorised on the beach
2 group: memorised underwater

when asked to remember the words
- half of group 1 stayed on the beach
- rest of them had to recall underwater

Question 7

what were their findings?

Answer 7

• those who had recalled in the same environment which they’d learnt in
  -> recalled 40% more words than those recalling in different
  environment
• suggest that the retrieval of info is improved if it occurs in the context in which it was learned
• ecological validity can be questioned but findings are supported by evidence from outside the laboratory

Question 8

evaluate retrieval failure

Answer 8

PROS
- has huge practical applications
- can be applied to a range of real-life situations
eg) in an exam you can use retrieval cues to assist you
-> recall things that happened in the class on the day you learned a
certain theory
-> visualising yourself back in the classroom you learned the info
originally is known to help

CONS
- separating cue retrieval from decay
- it could be the memory has decayed and is no longer accessible
eg) was an issue for Bahrick’s Year Book study