explanations for forgetting

Question 1

supporting evidence for context dependant forgetting

Answer 1

• godden and baddley
• had scuba divers learn a word list either on land or in water
• scuba divers asked to recall list either on land or in water
• recall was better in environments where divers had also leant word list
• suggests context in which information was learnt has an impact on recall and a change in context could lead to retrieval failure

Question 2

supporting evidence for state dependant forgetting

Answer 2

• overton
• had ptps learn information either drunk or sober
• had ptps recall information either drunk or sober
• when ptps learnt information drunk their recall was better also drunk
• suggests state when learning information is a factor in success of recall and a changed state can lead to retrieval failure

Question 3

supporting evidence for category dependant forgetting

Answer 3

• tulving
• ptps leant 48 words
• had to either free recall or match 12 4 word categories
• recall was better in the 12 4 word category group
• suggesting providing cues related to categories may aid recall

Question 4

limitation of supporting evidence

Answer 4

• tasks lack mundane realism
• tasks asked to be completed by ptps arent similar to memory tasks that occur in everyday life
• meaning studies lack ecological validity
• and have low external validity
• weak explanations for forgetting outside of lab research

Question 5

supporting evidence for proactive interference

Answer 5

• greenberg and underwood
• ptps given 10 paired word lists
• given 48 hours to learn
• repeated 4 times with 10 more paired word lists given each time
• recall of previous word pairs was worse the more word pairs previously learnt
• suggesting proactive interference occured leading to retrieval failure

Question 6

supporting evidence for retroactive interference

Answer 6

• schmidt
• ptps aged 11-79
• tested memory of map of childhood street names
• negative correlation between number of times moved and recall
• suggesting retroactive interference occurred leading to retrieval failure

Question 7

limited in explaining all types of forgetting (RI and PI)

Answer 7

• doesnt explain forgetting when two pieces of information arent similar and learnt close together
• limited explanation of forgetting