explanations for forgetting : retrieval failure Flashcards
what a cue
things that serve as a reminder.
environmental cues - a room
mental state cues - being sad or drunk
retrieval failures
occurs due to the absence of cues
if cues aren’t available when retrieving you have forgotten it
encoding specificity principle
recall is best when large overlap between info available at the time of retrieval (cues) and info in memory trace.
eg if retrieved in different place might forget as cues as different
context depends forgetting EXTERNAL change of environment
hidden and baddely
divers asked list of words underwater or land then asked to recall underwater or land.
2 conditions of learning environment and recall matched, the learn in same place. recall was 40% lower in non matching conditions as EXTERNAL CUES WERE DIFFERENT AT LEARNING AND RECALLING
state dependent forgetting
gave particpant anti histamine drugs, mild sedative effect, makes you slightly drowsy, creates a psysiological state that is different from normal state where we’re awake. had to list words
learn on drugs recall on drug
learn on drug recall not on it
visa versa
mismatch was worse, if cues abesent more forgetting
s
real world application - smith said just thinking of the room where you did the original learning was as effective as being in the same room with same retrieval,
l
retrieval cues don’t always work
info related to lot more than cues.
while the use of retrieval cues can explain instance of everyday forgetting