Explanations Of Forgetting

Question 1

what are the two explanations of forgetting

Answer 1

• interference
• retrieval failure

Question 2

interference occurs when……

Answer 2

two pieces of information conflict with eachother

Question 3

interference

what is proactive interference

Answer 3

when older memories interfere with a newer memory

Question 4

interference

what is retroactive interfernce

Answer 4

when a newer memory interferes with an older memory

Question 5

interference

explain the study where retroactive interference is studied

Answer 5

baddeley and hitch

• Rugby players were asked to recall the names of teams they played during the season.
• Players missed games, so the time since the last game varied.
• Findings: Recall for the last game was equally good, regardless of time.
  Conclusion: Forgetting was due to the number of intervening games (interference), not the passage of time.

Question 6

retrieval failure

rerieval failure is defined as

Answer 6

where information has succesfully been stored in our LTM but there are not sufficient cues to access it

Question 7

retrieval failure

cues can be either…..

Answer 7

• external (context)
• internal (state)

Question 8

retrieval failure

give an example of an internal cue

Answer 8

mood

Question 9

retrieval failure

give an example of an external cue

Answer 9

smell

Question 10

retrieval failure

who developed the encoding specificity principle

Answer 10

tulving

Question 11

retrieval failure

explain what the ESP is

Answer 11

tulving

• if a cue is to help us recall information it has to be present at encoding and at retrieval

Question 12

retrieval failure

Describe what is meant by context-dependent forgetting
(3 marks)

Answer 12

• the external environment at recall is different from the envioronment during learning
• this leads to the absence of environmental cues leading to reteieval failure
• Eg, godden and baddeley found divers recalled info better when they learned and recalled in thje same context

Question 13

retrieval failure

explain the study that provides evidence of context dependant forgetting

Answer 13

godden and baddeley

• particpant were deep sea divers who memorised a list of 40 words
• they learnt it on either:
  1. the beach
  2. under water
• after hearing the words the particpants were tested for recall in either:
  1. same environmental context
  2. different context
• it was found that those who leanred and recalled in the same context remembered 40% more words
• this supports retrieval failure and ESP as it demonstrates context acted as a cue

Question 14

retrieval failure

explain state dependant forgetting

Answer 14

• Internal state can act as a cue for memory recall.
• Forgetting may occur if the internal state during recall differs from the state during learning. own internal state can act as a cue

Question 15

retrieval failure

explain the study that provides evidence for state dependant forgetting

Answer 15

carter and cassady

• gave participants antihistimine drug
• they then learnt on the drug or learnt on no drug
• they then had to recall on drug or recall on no drug
• performance when the states mismatched was worse