Explanations of forgetting - Retrieval Failure Theory

Question 1

What are the tow explanations of forgetting?

Answer 1

Interference and retrieval failure theory.

Question 2

Is forgetting useful or not? Why?

Answer 2

Very useful, because a lot of what we learn we don’t need to remember indefinitely.

Question 3

At what stage does forgetting take place?

Answer 3

Can occur at encoding, storage or retrieval.

Question 4

What is the distraction that needs to be made about forgetting?

Answer 4

Between availability (whether the material is stored in the first place) and accessibility (whether we can retrieve that material that is stored).

Question 5

What does the retrieval failure theory suggest of why the memories cannot be accessed?

Answer 5

There is an absence of appropriate cues.

Question 6

What does the retrieval failure theory suggest about if the memory is there, why you cannot get it?

Answer 6

The memory is there you just cannot access it in time.

Question 7

When did Tulving and Thompson divide which stated that the closer the cue is to the item to be remembered, the higher the likelihood of recall?

(retrieval failure theory)

Answer 7

Encoding specificity principal.

Question 8

What did Tulving suggest in 1968?

Answer 8

That retrieval failure offers a far better explanation of forgetting than either decay or interference.

Question 9

How did Tulving support his suggestion in 1968?

Answer 9

An experiment where pppts were asked to lean a list of words and recall as many as they could in any order, then asked later on a second and third time.

Not all the same words were recalled on each trial suggesting that different retrieval cues were being used each time.

Decay or interference could not explain these findings.

Question 10

When Tulving and Thompson proposed the encoding speciality principle in 1973, what did they claim to improve recall?

Answer 10

If the same cues are present during recall as during the original learning.

Question 11

Who did an experiment in 1966 with the aim being do retrieval (category) cues help memory recall?

Answer 11

Tulving and Pearlstone.

Question 12

What was the objective in Tulving and Pearlstone 1966 experiment?

Answer 12

To investigate whether having material organised into categories helps memory coding and subsequent recall.

Question 13

What was the experiment done by Tulving and Pearlstone in 1966?

Answer 13

Read out a list of word 42 in column order, give group one a blank piece of paper and the other paper with the seven categories on.

Question 14

What did Tulving and Pearlstone’s experiment in 1966 show?

Answer 14

That category cues help recall after material has been learnt.

Question 15

What does context dependent forgetting refer to?

Answer 15

The environment you are in when the event occurs, cues include noises, visuals, temperature, weather and smells.

Question 16

What is the key study that demonstrated context dependent forgetting?

Answer 16

Godden and Baddelely Underwater divers study.

Question 17

What was the aim of Godden and Baddeley’s Underwater Divers study?

Answer 17

To investigate the effects of context cues on recall, to see whether words leaned in the same environment they are recalled in are recalled better than in a different environment to learning.

Context dependent forgetting.

Question 18

How many ppts took part in Godden and Baddeley’s Underwater Divers study?

What design was the study?

How many conditions were there in the study?

Answer 18

18 diving club ppts.

Repeated measures design.

4 conditions - leaning and recalling on land and underwater.

Question 19

How far underwater was the testing done in Godden and Baddeley’s underwater divers study?

Answer 19

20ft below surface.

Question 20

What did ppts have to do during Godden and Baddeley’s underwater divers study?

Answer 20

Learn 38 unrelated word which they heard twice during the learning stage.
They then had to wrote down 15 numbers as a distraction task.

Question 21

Why in Godden and Baddeley’s underwater divers study did the words get taught in blocks with a 4 second interval?

Answer 21

So that the breathing apparatus would not interfere with the divers hearing the words.

Question 22

How long was there between conditions in Godden and Baddeley’s underwater divers study?

Over how many days did the study take place?

How were the ppts tested (group size)?

Answer 22

24 hours.

4 days.

In pairs.

Question 23

What were the findings of Godden and Baddeley’s underwater divers study?

Answer 23

50% better recall when learning and recall in the same condition.

40% more words were forgotten when the condition changed.

13. 5 = learning on land, recalling on learning.
14. 6 = leaning on land, recalling in water.

Question 24

What is the conclusion that can be drawn from Godden and Baddeley’s underwater divers study?

Answer 24

Environmental cues do improve recall and supports cue dependent theory.

Question 25

What is state dependent forgetting?

Answer 25

Refers to how you are feeling internally, cues include emotions, taste, sobriety.

Question 26

What did the study that demonstrates state dependent forgetting?

Answer 26

Cite Goodwin et al (1969) money hiding.

Question 27

What happened in the Cit Goodwin et al (1969) money hiding study and what does it demonstrate?

Answer 27

All ppts got drunk and were instructed to hide some money (£1 note) in a set up kitchen, they were called back another day, half got drunk again, half remained sober and were told to find the money.

Demonstrates state dependent forgetting.