Memory - retrieval failure (explanations for forgetting) Flashcards
What is retrieval failure?
It occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access memory. The memory is avaliable but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided
What is the encoding specificity principle and who came up with it?
Tulving - cues help people retrieval if the same ones are present both 1) at encoding (when we learn the material) and 2) at retrieval (when we are recalling it)
If the cures avaliable at encoding and retrieval are different there will be some forgetting
What are meaningful links?
The cue ‘STM’ leads you to recall lots of material about short term memory
What are the 2 non meaningful links?
Context dependant forgetting - recall depends on external cue (e.g weather or place)
State dependant forgetting - recall depends on internal cue (e.g feeling upset, being drunk)
Who did the context dependant forgetting study?
Godden and Baddeley
Who did the state dependant forgetting study?
Carter and Cassaday
What was the procedure for the context dependant study?
Deep sea divers learned word lists and were later asked to recall them
C1: Learn on land - recall on land
C2: Learn on land - recall underwater
C3: Learn underwater - recall on land
C4: Learn underwater - recall underwater
What were the findings and conclusions for the context dependant study?
Accurate recall was 40% lower in conditions 2 and 3 (mismatched contexts) than in conditions 1 and 4
Retrieval failure was due to absence of encoded context cues at time of recall - material was not accessible
What was the procedure of state dependant study?
Participants learned lists of words/prose and later recalled them
C1: Learn when on drug - recall on drug
C2: Learn when on drug - recall not on drug
C3: Learn when not on drug - recall on drug
C4: Learn when not on drug - recall not on drug
What were the findings and conclusions for the state dependant study?
Recall was significantly worse in conditions 2 and 3 (mismatched cues) compared with conditions 1 and 3
When cues at encoding are absent at retrieval then there is more forgetting
What are the two strengths?
Retriveal cues have real world application
Impressive range of supporting evidence
One strength is that retrieval cues have real world application…
People often go to another room to get an item but forget what they want, but they remember again when they go back to the orginal room
When we have trouble remembering something, it is probably worth making the effort to recall the environment in which you learned it first
This shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall
Another strength is the impressive range of supporting evidence
- 2 new names
For example Godden and Baddeley (divers) and Carter and Cassaday (drugs) show that lack of cues at recall leads to everyday forgetting
In fact Eysenck and Keane argue that retrieval failure is perhaps the main reason for forgetting in LTM
This evidence shows that retrievak failure due to lack of cues occurs in everyday life as well as in highly controlled labs
Counterpoint - Baddeley argues that different contexts have to be very different indeed before an effect is seen. Learning something in one room and ……
recalling it in another is unlikely to result in much forgetting becasue the environments are not different enough.
This means that retrieval failure due to lack of contextual cues may not explain much everyday forgetting
What is a limitation?
Context effects vary in recall and recognition
