Memory : Retrieval Failure Flashcards
What is retrieval failure ?
we lack or fail to use the right cues to retrieve information stored in memory
what is ESP ?
Encoding Specificity Principle - proposed by Tulving, which states that remembering is more likely to happen when cues that were present when learning the information, are also present when trying to recall it.
when cues are absent - forgetting happens
Godden and Baddeley 1975
the experiment was done with divers, some participants were learning and recalling underwater, the others normally doing the same things. the recall of those who have been learning and recalling was much better when the initial environment of learning and recall was the same. so it shows that retrieval failure is partly based on the context and environment.
what lacks the study done by Godden and Baddeley in 1975, and why?
the study lacks ecological validity because it is not a daily thing to learn and recall words underwater; the study also lacks mundane realism, because of the extreme context of the exp. which isn’t really common to a normal person (diving). the results of the experiments cannot be applied to all Humans, because they were done by professional divers.
what was the second study done by G & B in 1980, about ?
it was the same experiment as in the 1975, but done not with words but images, and it showed opposite results; which proved that recognition has no context dependence.
what both experiments showed about retrieval failure, as an explanation for forgetting?
both experiments resulted in and showed that retrieval failure gives an incomplete explanation of forgetting; as the presence or absence of cues only affects memory when the context (environment) is different
where does more support of the retrieval failure theory as an explanation for forgetting comes from?
from eyewitness testimony, on the interviews the witness is asked to describe the “crime scene” with closed eyes, - context dependent forgetting.
what is “context dependent” forgetting ?
forgetting occurs, because of a lack of external contextual cues, where environment for learning and recall is different.
what is “state dependent” forgetting ?
forgetting occurs as a result of lack of internal contextual cues, where he physical and emotional states for “learning and recall”, for e.g, are different.
(when happy can remember - when upset, not)
what is the interference theory?
a theory that states, that forgetting occurs when two or more different memories interfere and disrupt with one another
what is proactive interference?
when older memories interfere with the retrieval of newer memories, occurs because older memories are more strongly cemented in LTM, it is easier to recall older info (learned) than newer
what is retroactive interference in forgetting ?
when newer memories interfere with retrieval of older memories; a backward effect, making more difficult the recall of things learned previously
when the interference theory is more likely to occur?
when the material is similar, going to the same place a couple times, the details of the trips can interfere because of the same place of happening
McGeoch and Mcdonald (1931) - retroactive interference
participants first learnt a set of words then they had to learn another list. participant’s recall of the original list was lower and worse with synonyms compared to antonyms, numbers, unrelated adjectives, nonsense syllables, etc; this demonstrates that interference is stronger when memories are similar.
what was the critique for the experiment done by McGeoch and Mcdonald in 1931?
the experiment was carried out in lab settings using lists of random words, this situation is really unlikely to occur often in real life, so it os low in ecological validity. the study also lacks mundane realism, because the tasks were done really closely, in real life they would be more spaced out
