Forgetting explanation : Retrieval failure

Question 1

Retrieval failure

Answer 1

• Occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access memory.
• The memory is available however the necessary cues are not.

Question 2

Cues

Answer 2

Trigger of information which allows us to access a memory.

Question 3

Encoding specificity principle (ESP)

Answer 3

• Introduced by Tulving (1983).
• States that if a cue helps us to recall information, it has to be present at encoding (when material is learnt) and at retrieval (when we are recalling it).

Question 4

Godden and Baddeley (1975) - Context-dependent forgetting study

Answer 4

• Asked deep-sea divers to learn a list of words either underwater or on land, and recalling that list underwater or on land ; creating 4 conditions ; LL, LU, UL, UU.
• Found accurate recall was 40% lower when the condition did not match, (LU and UL).
• External cues available at learning were different from the ones at recall, which lead to retrieval failure.

Question 5

Carter and Cassaday (1998) - State dependent forgetting study

Answer 5

• Gave anti-histamine drugs to pps, which had a mild sedative effect (drowsiness), causing an internal physiological state different from the ‘normal’ state of being awake and alert.
• Pps asked to learn and recall different lists of words/passages, which created 4 conditions ; learnt on drugs-recall on drugs, ;learnt on drugs-recall without it, learnt without drugs-recall with drugs, learnt without drugs-recall without it.
• Found when there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance was significantly worse on the memory test ; when cues aren’t present, recall is worse.