memory - Theories for forgetting

Question 1

what are the explanations for forgetting

Answer 1

retrieval failure and interference theory

Question 2

what does retrieval failure suggest ?

Answer 2

we need cues to access memories

Question 3

what is a cue ??

Answer 3

a trigger of info that allows us to access memories

Question 4

what are the types of cues ?

Answer 4

state dependent and context dependent

Question 5

what is a context dependent cue ?

Answer 5

the info of event e.g, the place and situation

Question 6

what is a state dependent cue ?

Answer 6

internal feelings

Question 7

what are the types of interference ?

Answer 7

retroactive and proactive

Question 8

what is proactive interference ?

Answer 8

when an old memory interferes with a new

Question 9

what is retroactive interference ?

Answer 9

when a new memory interferes with an old one

Question 10

what was mcgeoch and mcdonalds research ?

Answer 10

interference theory -> pp had to learn a list of words 100% then they would learn a second list (e.g. antonyms of the first list) they found that those who had the most similar list performed the worst having worst recall

Question 11

what are the key ideas of interference theory ?

Answer 11

two pieces of information can cause conflict with each other and distort a memory, this is more likely if they are similar pieces of information

Question 12

what was baddeley and hitchs research ?

Answer 12

they asked rugby players to recall all the teams the had played in a season and they found players who played less games remembered more

Question 13

weaknesses of interference theory ?

Answer 13

M AND M used artificial tasks
B AND H had a biased sample
alternative explanation

Question 14

strengths of interference theory ?

Answer 14

research support from Mgeoch and McDonald -> PP learn one list then another list -> recall was worse when words were similar
artificial task -> does this have external validity can it be applied to other settings
research support real life - baddeley and hitch -> asked rugby players who they played against and found that more games = worse recall

Question 15

what was godden and baddeleys research ?

Answer 15

(context dependent )pp had to learn list of words on land then recall on land , learn list on land recall on water. recall was worse in non-matching conditions.

Question 16

what was carters and Cassady’s research ?

Answer 16

(state dependent) pp had to learn words on drug then recall off drug and vice versa in non matching states recall was worse

Question 17

strengths of retrieval failure ?

Answer 17

research support by Baddeley and Godden > context dependent cues
research support from carters and Cassady -> state dependent cues
practical applications -> understanding why people forget allows us to help them remember for example in crime going back to the scene may help

Question 18

weaknesses of retrieval failure ?

Answer 18

research support is flawed (lacks ecological validity )
contextual cues have been questioned on their importance -> baddeley argued changing room has little effect on recall

Question 19

what were the categories in McGeoch and McDonalds study?

Answer 19

synonyms
antonyms
unrelated
numbers
syllables
no new list

Question 20

what did McGeoch and McDonald find?

Answer 20

most similar words produced the worst recall
1.2 average number recalled

Question 21

What is Tulving’s theory on retrieval failure?

Answer 21

encoding specificity principle

Question 22

what is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 22

1983 reviewed research into retrieval failure and found consistencies which he named the ESP
if a cue is to help our recall it must be present at encoding
if they are not there retrieving memories will be difficult