Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval failure

Question 1

What is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 1

If a cue is going to be helpful, it has to be both present at encoding (when we learn the material) and present at retrieval (when we are recalling it). If cues available at encoding and retrieval are different then there will be some forgetting

Question 2

What is context dependent forgetting?

Answer 2

Recall is dependent on external cues (e.g weather or place)

Question 3

What is state dependent forgetting?

Answer 3

Recall is dependent on internal cues (e.g feeling upset, being drunk)

Question 4

Research into context-dependent forgetting?

Answer 4

Godden and Baddeley
- Deep - sea divers
- learned a list of words either underwater or on land
- asked to recall the words either underwater or on land
- this created four conditions:
Learn land, recall land
learn land recall, underwater
learn underwater, recall land
learn underwater, recall underwater

Question 5

What were the findings and conclusions (context-dependent)?

Answer 5

In two of these conditions the environmental context of leaning and recall matched, whereas in the other two they did not. Accurate recall was 40% lower in the non - matching conditions. They concluded that the external cues available at learning were different from the ones available at recall and this led to retrieval failure

Question 6

Research into state-dependent forgetting?

Answer 6

Carter and Cassaday
- gave participants antihistamine drugs
- this creates an internal psychological state different from the ‘normal’ state of being awake and alert
- participants had to learn a list of words and then recall the information
- this was done in four conditions:
learn on drug, recall on drug
learn on drug, recall when not on drug
learn not on drug, recall when not on drug
learn not on drug, recall when on drug

Question 7

What were the findings and conclusions (state-dependent)?

Answer 7

In the conditions where there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall performance on the memory test was significantly worse. So when the cues are absent at recall or learning then there is more forgetting

Question 8

What is the evaluation for Retrieval Failure?

Answer 8

Real world application:
- retrieval cues can help us to overcome forgetting in everyday situations, such as environment
- when we have trouble remembering something, it is probably worth making the effort to recall the environment in which you learned it first
This shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall

Recall vs recognition:
- one limitation is that context effects may depend substantially on the type of memory being tested
- Godden and Baddeley used a recognition test rather than recall in their underwater experiment
- participants had to say whether they recognised a word on a list rather than retrieving it for themselves
- when recognition was tested there was no context dependent effect, performance was the same in all 4 conditions
This suggests that retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognise it

Problems with the encoding specificity principle:
- There is a lot of evidence that forgetting takes okay the there is a mismatch of encoding and retrieval cues
However, is it possible to independently establish whether a cue has been encoded or not?
- The reasoning is circular and based on assumptions
- In an experiment If a cue did not produced recall we assume it cannot have been encoded. If the cue did produce recall, we assume it must have been encoded