Explanations For Forgetting: Retrieval Failure Flashcards
What is retrieval failure
Retrieval failure is where the information is in long-term memory, but cannot be accessed. Such information is said to be available (i.e. it is still stored) but not accessible (i.e. it cannot be retrieved). It cannot be accessed because the retrieval cues are not present.
What are retrieval cues
Information about the situation from the memory. When we come into the same situation again, these retrieval cues can trigger the memory of the situation.
What are two types of cues
Context - in the environment
State - inside of us
What are examples of context cues
a particular room, driving along a motorway, a certain group of people, a rainy day and so on.
what are state dependent cues
memory will be best when a person’s physical or psychological state is similar at encoding and retrieval.
What’s an example of state dependent cues
if someone tells you a joke on Saturday night after a few drinks, you”ll be more likely to remember it when you”re in a similar state – at a later date after a few more drinks. Stone cold sober on Monday morning, you”ll be more likely to forget the joke
What are state dependent cues based on
the physical or psychological state of the person when information is encoded and retrieved. For example, a person may be alert, tired, happy, sad, drunk or sober when the information was encoded. They will be more likely to retrieve the information when they are in a similar state.
Evaluation for retrieval failure
- Baddeley (1975)
- Goodwin Et al (1969)
3.
Evaluation: Baddeley (1975)
An interesting experiment conducted by Baddeley (1975) indicates the importance of setting for retrieval. Baddeley (1975 ) asked deep-sea divers to memorize a list of words. One group did this on the beach and the other group underwater. When they were asked to remember the words half of the beach learners remained on the beach, the rest had to recall underwater.
Half of the underwater group remained there and the others had to recall on the beach. The results show that those who had recalled in the same environment (i.e. context) which that had learned recalled 40% more words than those recalling in a different environment. This suggests that the retrieval of information is improved if it occurs in the context in which it was learned.
Evaluation: Goodwin et al (1969)
A study by Goodwin et al. (1969) investigated the effect of alcohol on state-dependent retrieval. They found that when people encoded information when drunk, they were more likely to recall it in the same state. For example, when they hid money and alcohol when drunk, they were unlikely to find them when sober.
However, when they were drunk again, they often discovered the hiding place. Other studies found similar state-dependent effects when participants were given drugs such as marijuana.
Evaluation: ecological validity
Much of the research on this theory is laboratory based and therefore lacks ecological validity. The studies do not test ‘everyday memory’ and therefore it could be argued the evidence lacks validity.
