Memory : Retrieval Failure Flashcards
what is retrieval failure ?
A form of forgetting. It occurs when we dont have the necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided
What are cues ?
A trigger of information that allows us to access a memory. Some cues may be meaningful or may be indirectly linked by being eroded at the time of learning
What are the two different types of cues
External
Internal
What is Tulving (1983) encoding specificity principle ?
If a cue is to help us to recall information, it has to be present at encoding (when we learn the material) and at retrieval where we are recalling it.
If cues available at encoding and retrieval are different or absent then there will be some forgetting
What are other ways cues can be encoded?
Some cues are linked to material to be remembered in meaningful way
Cues are encoded at the time of learning but not in meaningful way
Context and state dependent forgetting
Explain the procedure of Godden and Baddeleys 1975 study on context dependent forgetting
Divers learnt list of words underwater or on land and then asked to recall words either underwater or on land.
- learn on land - recall on land
- learn on land - recall underwater
- learn underwater - recall on land
- learn underwater - recall underwater
What were the findings of Godden and baddeleys study into context dependent forgetting ?
Environmental contexts of learning and recall matched in two conditions.
Accurate recall was 40% lower in non matching conditions
External cues available at learning were different from the ones at recalling this led to retrieval failure
Explain the procedure of carter and cassadays (1998) study into state dependent forgetting ?
Gave antihistamine drugs to their participants.
The antihistamines had a mild sedative effect making the participants slightly drowsy.
Place participants in a different internal physiological state than their normal state.
24 volunteer undergraduates had the task of learning list of words and passage of prose then recall information.
4 conditions
-Learn on drug and recall on it
- learn on drug - recall when not on it
- learn not on drug - recall when on drug
- learn not on drug - recall when not on it
What were the findings of carter and cassaday’s 1998 study on state dependent forgetting
Conditions where there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significantly worse.
When cues are absent
Drowsy recalling info but had been alert learning it
What is a limitation of context effects ( counter effects )
Context effects are not that strong in real life.
Baddeley argued that different contexts have to be very different for an effect to be seen. This can be seen as learning something in one room and recalling in another will not result in forgetting because environments are not different enough.
This shows that real life applications of retrieval failure doesn’t explain all forgetting
What is another limitation of retrieval failure
The context effect present in retrieval failure may be related to just the kind of memory.
For example Godden and Baddeley (1980) replicated their underwater experiment but used recognition test instead of recall. Participants had to say whether they recognised a word read to them from the list.
When recognition was tested there was no context dependent effect and performance was the same in all 4 conditions
Shows that the presence and absence of cues only affects memory when you test it in a certain way
What is another limitation of retrieval failure ( encoding specific principle)
It can be argued that the encoding principle can not be tested because it leads to a form of circular reasoning.
For example if a cue results in successful recall then we assume that the cue must have been encoded at the time of learning but if cue does not result in successful recall then we assume that it wasn’t encoded at time of learning.
However these are just assumptions so there is no way to establish if the cue has been encoded or not. It is even possible that there may be a different reason that results in successful recall.
What is a strength of retrieval failure ( supporting evidence)
There is a range of research that supports the retrieval failure explanation of forgetting. For example Godden and Baddeleys research into context dependent forgetting.
This increases the validity of the explanation.
What is another strength of retrieval failure (real life applications )
Even if context related cues do not have a very strong effect on forgetting Retrieval failure still has practical real life applications.
Even baddeley suggested that context related cues are still worth paying attention to.
This is strengthened by the fact that a principle of the cognitive interview is to reinstate the context so that eyewitnesses can recall more information.
This shows that retrieval failure has provided insight into topics that require recall and have helped these processes improve to produce more successful recall.
