Explanations For Forgetting - Retrieval Failure

Question 1

What is Retrieval Failure

Answer 1

A form of forgetting which occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access a memory

Question 2

What is Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP) - Tulving (1983)

Answer 2

States that if a cue is to help us recall information it has to be present at encoding (learning) and retrieval (recall)
If the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different or absent there will be some forgetting

Question 3

Name the 2 types of forgetting described by Tulving in ESP

Answer 3

Context-Dependent Forgetting

State-Dependent Forgetting

Question 4

What is Context-Dependent Forgetting

Answer 4

Forgetting due to External Cues being different at either encoding or retrieval

Godden and Baddeley (1975) -
Study on deep sea divers
Ppts learned a list of words either underwater or on land (4 conditions)

1: learn and recall on land
2: learn on land and recall underwater
3: learn and recall underwater
4: learn underwater and recall on land

Found that accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions

Question 5

What is State-Dependent Forgetting

Answer 5

Forgetting due to having different internal states at encoding and retrieval

Carter and Cassidy (1998) -
Gave anti-histamine drugs with a mild sedative in to make ppts slightly drowsy
Creates a different internal physiological state compared to that of being awake normally
Had to learn list of words and passages of prose and then recall the information (4 condition)

1: learn and recall on drug
2: learn on drug and recall off drug
3: learn and recall off drug
4: learn off drug and recall on drug

Found that on mis-matched conditions recall was significantly worse

Question 6

Evaluation (STRENGTH) - Research Support

Answer 6

Increases the validity of this explanation (especially when studies show retrieval failure occurs in real-life situations as well as in highly controlled lab environments)

Eysenck and Keane (2010) -
Argue that retrieval failure is perhaps the main reason from forgetting from LTM

Godden and Baddeley + Carter and Cassidy -
Support retrieval failure as they show that a lack of relevant cues at recall can lead to context-dependent and state-dependent forgetting

Shows retrieval failure occurs in real-world situations as well as in highly controlled lab conditions

Question 7

Evaluation - Research Support (COUNTERPOINT)

Answer 7

Baddeley (1997) -
Argued that context effects are actually not very strong (especially in real-life)
It would be hard to find an environment as different from land as underwater

Means retrieval failure due to contextual cues don’t actually explain much of forgetting

Question 8

Evaluation (WEAKNESS) - Recall VS Recognition

Answer 8

Godden and Baddeley (1980) -
Replicated their underwater test but used a recognition test instead of a recall test
When recognition was tested there was no context-dependent effect and performance was the same in all four conditions

Suggests retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognise it

Question 9

Evaluation (WEAKNESS) - Problems with the Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP)

Answer 9

There is a lot of evidence that forgetting takes place when there is a mismatch or absence of encoding and retrieval cues (Tulving’s ESP)

However, it is not possible to independently establish whether a cue has been encoded or not
Reasoning is based on assumption
If a cue did not produce a recall we ASSUME it has not been encoded
If a cue does produce a recall we ASSUME it has been encoded

Question 10

Evaluation (STRENGTH) - Real-World Applications

Answer 10

Retrieval cues can help to overcome some forgetting in everyday situations

Shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall