Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval failure

Question 1

define retrieval failure

Answer 1

when we do not have the necessary cues to access memory

Question 1

define cue

Answer 1

a trigger of information that allows us to access a memory

Question 2

who discovered the encoding specificity principle ?

Answer 2

Endel Tulving

Question 3

what does the encoding specificity principle state ?

Answer 3

• a cue has to be both present at encoding and present at retrieval
• if the cues available and retrieval are diff there will be some forgetting

Question 4

give two examples of non - meaningful cues

Answer 4

context - dependent forgetting
state - dependent forgetting

Question 5

what is context - dependent forgetting ?

Answer 5

recall depends on external cue like the weather or place

Question 6

what is state - dependent forgetting ?

Answer 6

recall depends on internal cue like feeling upset or being drunk

Question 7

who conducted the research on context - dependent forgetting ?

Answer 7

Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley

Question 8

what is the procedure of Godden and Baddeley study ?

Answer 8

divers learned a list of words wither underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land

Question 9

what were the findings and conclusions of Godden and Baddeley ?

Answer 9

accurate recall was 40 % lower in the non matching conditions - concluded that the external cues available at learning were different from the ones available at recall and this led to retrieval failure

Question 10

who conducted the research on state - dependent forgetting ?

Answer 10

Sara Carter and Helen Cassaday

Question 11

what was the procedure of Carter and Cassady ?

Answer 11

antihistamine drugs on ppt
list of words and then recall
4 conditions

Question 12

what was Carter and Cassaday findings ?

Answer 12

a mismatch - performance on the memory test was worse
- when cues are absent then there is more forgetting

Question 13

evaluation - how does research support the retrieval failure explanation ? - strength

Answer 13

P - research support
E - Godden and Baddeley + Carter and Cassady - lack of cues lead to forgetting
E - Eyesenck = retrieval failure main reason for forgetting LTM
L - lab experiments so increases validity

Question 14

evaluation - how is recall versus recognition a limitation ?

Answer 14

P - context effects may depend substantially on the type of memory being tested
E - Godden and Baddeley also studied recognition of words instead of no context - dependent forgetting
E - cues only affect memories when tested in a certain way
L - limited explanation