4.6 Memory - Explanations of Forgetting: Retrieval Failure

Question 1

Retrieval Failure

Answer 1

Argues information may be forgotten due to insufficient cues that help us access memory

Question 2

Encoding Specificity Principle

Answer 2

Tulving reviews R.F research and discovered a pattern in findings and called this ESP so if a cue is to help retrieve information it must be present at the point encoding and retrieval, if they are different they are harder to retrieve

Question 3

Cue Dependant Forgetting

Answer 3

Tulving identified two types of cue dependant forgetting I.e when learning and retrieval don’t match.
. Context Dependant
. State Dependant

Question 4

Context Dependant Forgetting

Answer 4

Occurs when the right external cues were present at learning but not at retrieval e.g when you go somewhere to do something and forget when you get there

Question 5

State Dependant Forgetting

Answer 5

Occurs when there is a lack of relevant psychological or physiological cues at retrieval that were present at learning e.g after your drunk you don’t remember what you did but when your drunk again you remember again

Question 6

Who researched Context Dependant Forgetting?

Answer 6

Godden and Baddeley (1975)

Question 7

Who researched State Dependant Forgetting?

Answer 7

Carter and Cassaday (1998)

Question 8

What did Godden and Baddeley do in their experiment?

Answer 8

Gave divers a list of words either on land or underwater then asked them to recall either on land or underwater, creating four instances. Recall was found to be 40% lower in the conditions where learning and recall didn’t match e.g learn underwater, recall on land

Question 9

What did Carter and Cassaday do in their experiment?

Answer 9

Gave anti-histamine drugs to participants and had them learn an recall a list of words both on and off the drug creating 4 conditions, once again showed that a mismatch meant less likely to recall

Question 10

Strengths of Retrieval Failure as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 10

. Lots of supporting research e.g Godden and Baddeley plus Carter and Cassaday
. G and B experiment occurred in a natural setting so higher ecological validity, lacks demand characteristics etc

Question 11

Limitations of Retrieval Failure as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 11

. ESP cannot be tested and is only based on assumptions and inferences
. Context Dependant has little explanatory power
. Godden and Baddeley lacks mundane realism and demand characteristics may be shown