Explanations for forgetting Flashcards
Retrieval failure
- people forget information because of insufficient cues
- when information is initially placed into their memory, associated cues are stored at the same time
- forgetting in LTM is usually down to retrieval failure
- if someone gives you a hint then the memory might pop back into your head
- you have a vast amount of memories and you can access them if someone provides the right cues
Encoding specify principle (ESP)
- Tulving did research into retrieval failure and discovered a consistent pattern in findings
- ESP states that if a cue is to help us recall something, then it has to be present at encoding and at retrieval
- some cues are linked to the information to be remembered in a meaningful way
- there are 2 types of cues
~ external = context dependant learning
~ internal = state dependant learning
Context dependant forgetting
- when memory improves when the context/circumstance of the memory is the same at encoding and retrieval
- e.g., the same smells are present or they same environment
Context dependant forgetting - case study example - Abernethy 1940
- Arranged a group of students to be tested prior to a certain course beginning
- Each group was tested differently in different conditions
1) taught in the same room with the same teacher
2) taught in the same room with a different teacher
3) taught in a different room with the same teacher
4) taught in a different room with a different teacher - Those taught in the same room with the same teacher performed best
Context dependant forgetting - case study example - Godden and Baddeley 1975
- did a study with deep sea divers underwater to remember information given to them
- the divers had to learn a list of words underwater or on land and then recall the words either underwater or on land
- There were 4 conditions
~ learn on land and recall on land
~ learn on land and recall underwater
~ learn underwater and recall on land
~ learn underwater and recall underwater - found the context of the learning and the recall matched but in the other 2 conditions they did not
- accurate recall was 40% lower in the non matching conditions
- the study gives support to context dependant learning because the groups with ESP had better recall
State dependant forgetting
- memory improves when we encode and retrieve something in the same mental state
- e.g., if you encoded information when happy/sad/drunk then you are more likely to be able to recall it when happy/sad/drunk
- for example we remember a lot of bad events that have happened when we are sad
State dependant forgetting - case study example - Carter and Cassaday 1998
- looked at the effect of antihistamines
- antihistamines contain a mild sedative that makes patients feel tired and drowsy
- this creates a different physiological state than normally as you are normally awake and alert
- ppts had to learn a list of words and then recall the information again
- there were 4 conditions
~ learn on drug and recall when on drug
~ learn on drug and recall when not on drug
~ learn not on drug and recall when on drug
~ learnt not on drug and recall when not on drug - found that those in the same physiological state for both encoding and retrieval did better at recall than when they were in a different state for encoding and recall
- so when the cues are absent, there is more forgetting
State dependant forgetting - case study example - Goodwin 1969
- found people who drank a lot would forget where they had put things when they were sober
- but when they were drunk again, they could remember where they were
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State dependant forgetting - case study example - Miles and Hardman 1998
Found that people who learned a list of words while exercising on an exercise bike remembered them better when exercising rather than at rest
What the studies for context and state dependant forgetting suggest
All the studies suggest that state or context dependant forgetting is true because if they weren’t in the same state/context at encoding then the recall became harder
