Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure

Question 1

Cue

Answer 1

Serve as a reminder. That may be meaningful linked to the material or not

Question 2

Retrieval failure

Answer 2

Occurs due to the absence of cues. An explanation for forgetfing based on the idea that the issue related being wbkr to retriev a memory that is available but not accessible. Depends on cues

Question 3

The main reason for forgetting LTM

Answer 3

Mainly fie to retrieval failure( lack of accessibility than availability). Failure to find an item of information because of insufficient clues or cues

Question 4

What does the encoding specificity principle state?

Answer 4

States that the cue doesnt have to be exactly right but closer the cue is to the original item, the more useful it will be.

Question 5

What did Endel Tulving and Donald Thomson(1973) state?

Answer 5

Proposed that memory is most effective it information that was present at encoding id aldo available at the time of retrieval

Question 6

Tulving and pearlstone(1966) conducted a research…

Answer 6

Showed the value of retrieval cues in a study where participants had to learn 48 words belonging in 12 categories.

Each word was presented with a category eg: fruit-orange
There was two recall conditions:
- had to either recall as many words as theh could
- given cues in form of category names

Results have shown:
• in free recall condition 40% words were recalled on average
• in cued-recall condition 60% words were recalled

These cues have been explicitly enconded at time of learning and have meaningful link to the learning material. There are also cued that are not related to the learning material in any meaningful way

• whenever any information is learnt, we remember where we are and how we felt ( environmental context wnd emotional state)
• being reminded of a particular mood of place can act as a trigger to help access memory

Question 7

List two context dependant forgetting researchs:

Answer 7

• study by Ethel Abernethy

* study by Gooden and Baddeley

Question 8

Ethel Abernethy(1940)

Answer 8

• arranged a group pf
Students to be tested before course began
• tested each week
•some were tested in a teaching room by usual instructor, others were tested by different instructor
Others were tested by a different or same room by same or diff instructor
•four experimental conditions in the study

Results-

Those tested by same instructor in same room performed best. Familiar room/instructor had acted as memory cues.
Abernethy had found that superior students were less affected by changes and inferior students the most.

Question 9

Study by Gooden and Baddeledy(1975)

Answer 9

Investigated contextual cues.
• researchers recruited scuba divers as participants and arranged a set of words that they had to learn either on land or underwater and recall on land or underwater
• these were the four experimental conditions
• results had shown that highest recall occured when inital context matchee the recall environment

Question 10

State dependant forgetting

Answer 10

Mental state you are in at the time of learning can also act as a cue

Question 11

Goodwin et al (1969)

Answer 11

• asked male volunteers to remember a list of words when they were either drunk or sober.
  Participants were asked to recall the lists after 24hrs after the situation they were in so they had to get drunk again if they read words when drunk

Recall shows that information leanrt when drunk is more available at the same state later

Question 12

Evaluation points:

Answer 12

• research support
• real life application
• retrieval cues arent always correct
• dangers of circularity
• retrieval failure explains interface effects

Question 13

Lot of research support..

Answer 13

• documented importance of retrieval cues on memory
• research such ad lab,field and natural experiments, anecdotal evidence that has relevance to everyday memory experiences

Question 14

Real world application

Answer 14

Use it to improve recall when you need to

Smith(1979) showed that thinking of the room where you did the original learning (mental reinstatement) was as effective as actually being in the same room at the time of retrieval

Another application of retrieval cues is in cognitive interview

Question 15

Retrieval cues dont always work

Answer 15

Smith and Vela(2001) show context effects are largely eliminated when learning meaningful material

Overall suggesting that retrieval cues arent the explanation for everything