explanation for forgetting: retrieval failure

Question 1

AO1: what is retrieval failure

Answer 1

occurs when we don’t have to necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but unaccessible unless a suitable cue is provided

cue- a ‘trigger’ of info that allows us to access a memory

Question 2

AO1: context dependent forgetting

Answer 2

recall depends on external cue (e.g. weather or place)

STUDY: Godden and Baddely (1975)
divers learned a list of words with underwater or on land and
then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land. This created four conditions. In two of these conditions the environmental contexts of learning and recall matched, whereas in the other two they did not. Accurate recall was
40% lower in the non-matching conditions.

Question 3

AO1: state dependent forgetting

Answer 3

recall depends on internal cue (e.g. feeling upset or being drunk)

They gave anti-histamines to
their participants. They had a mild sedative effect making the participants slightly drowsy. This creates an internal physiological state different from the ‘normal’ state of being awake and alert. The participants had to learn list of words then recall the information, again creating four conditions.In the conditions where there was a mismatch between internal state at
learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significantly
worse.

Question 4

AO3: strength- research support for state dependent retrieval failure

limitation- only males used

Answer 4

P: research support for the effect of state dependent retrieval failure.
E: Goodwin asked males to remember a list of words either drunk or sober then 24 hours later were asked to recall the words. $ conditions.
E: words learned drunk were better recalled when drunk, same for sober.
L: demonstrates the power of ‘state’ on recalling info
HOWEVER,
only males used so gender difference are ignored, creating beta bias

Question 5

AO3: limitation- methodological issues

strength- high ecological validity

Answer 5

P: methodological issues in divers experiment (Godden and Baddely)
E: they used a repeated measures design
E: creates demand characteristics and order effects. Should have used independent measure. Also has a sample of only 18 divers so should be treated with caution
L: lots of limitations of the main research into it
HOWEVER,
real life circumstances so high in ecological validity and results can be generalised to target population

Question 6

AO3: limitation- context effects not strong

Answer 6

P: context effects not strong, especially in real life.
E: the contexts have to be very different before an effect can be seen.
E: land and underwater which will have an effect as they are very different, in contrast with changing classrooms is no going to result in much forgetting as the contexts are so similar.
L: real life applications don’t actually explain forgetting

Question 7

AO3: strength- research support for state dependent forgetting

Answer 7

P: research support using a range of different alternatives to change state
E: impact of marijuana on an individuals recollection
E: found that people who took weed when putting money in a ‘safe space’ are less able to recall the place when no longer under the influence
L: This evidence adds weight to the argument that the emotional and physiological state that a person is in at the time of encoding is important at the time of retrieval.