MEMORY ( MRS K)

Question 1

What is meant by retrieval failure?

Answer 1

occurs due to absence of cues. An explanation for forgetting based on the idea that the issue relates to being able to retrieve a memory that is there ( available ) but not accessible . Retrieval depends on using cues

Question 2

what is meant by a cue ?

Answer 2

things that serve as a reminder . They may meaningfully link to the material to be remembered or may not be linked

Question 3

what is a context- dependent cue?

Answer 3

environmental cues which aid in accessing the memories formed in a certain context . ( Baddeley asked scuba divers to recall words on land and underwater . Most recall when learnt on land and recalled on land )

Question 4

what is a state -dependant cue ?

Answer 4

cues relating to emotional and physical state are the same during context. ( Goodwin et al asked male volunteers to remember words either drunk or sober . Ppts were asked to recall is high when learnt drunk and when recalled drunk )

Question 5

what did Tulving and Thomson’s research show about the ‘Encoding Specificity Principle’

Answer 5

showed that matching the encoding contexts of information at recall assists in the retrieval of episodic memories. Memory is most effective if info that was present at the point of encoding is also present at the point of attempted retrieval . The more closely the cue is linked to the material to be retrieved ( the greater specificity it has ) the more useful it is likely to be. ( Tulving and Pearlstone : 48 words in 12 categories - categories were presented with the word. In the free recall condition 40% of words were recalled on average , whereas in the cued-recall condition participants recalled 60% of the words

Question 6

Explain the research into absence of context dependant cues ( aim, procedure , findings , conclusions)

Answer 6

Aim : Godden and baddeley investigated the effect of the environment on recall

Procedure : deep sea divers were given lists of words to learn either on land or underwater . Then they had to recall the words either in the same or a different one.

Findings : learnt on beach , recall on beach - 13.5
learnt on beach , recall under water - 8.5
learnt on beach , recall under water - 8.6
learnt under water , recall under water - 11.4

Conclusions : shows context acted as a cue . Ppts recalled more words when they learnt and recalled the words in the same environment