Retrieval Failure Flashcards
Retreival failure
Forgetting when we dont have the cues needed to access the memory. The memory is available but not accessible
Cue
A trigger of information allowing us to access a memory
Who discovered teh encoding specificity principle?
Endel Tulving in 1983
Encoding specificity principle
‘The greater the similarity between the encidng event and the retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of recalling the original memory’ (tulving)
When will forgetting occur with retrieval failure?
If the cues present at encoding are different from those at retrieval
Context-dependent forgetting
Recall depends on external cues
State dependent forgetting
Recall depends on internal cues
Examples of internal cues
Feeling upset or happy, being drunk
Examples of external cues
The weather or a place
Who researched context-dependent forgetting?
Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley in 1975
Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley study
Depp-sea divers learned a list of words euther underwater or on land. They then recalled the words either underwater or on land
What were the 4 conditions in the godden and baddeley study?
Learn on land - recall on land
Learn on land - recall underwater
Learn underwater - recall on land
Learn underwater - recall underwater
Godden and Baddeley findings
When the environmental conditions did not match, accurate recall was 40% lower
Godden and Baddeley conclusions
External cues available at learning were different from the ones at recall, leading to retrieval failure
Who researched state-dependent forgetting?
Sara carter and Helen Cassaday in 1998
Carter and Cassaday study
Participants were given antihistamine drugs, which caused a mild sedative effect. This made them slightly drowsy with an internal physiological state different from normal. They had to learn lists of words and passages of prose and then recall the information
What were the 4 conditions in the Carter and Cassaday study?
Learn on drug - recall on drug
Learn on drug - recall not on drug
Learn not on drug - recall not on drug
Learn not on drug - recall on drug
Carter and Cassaday findings
When the internal state at learning and recall were mismatched, the performance on the memory test was significantly worse
Carter and Cassaday conclusions
When cues from learning are absent there is more forgetting
Who researched smell as a context-related cue?
John Aggleton and Lousie Waskett in 1999
Aggleton and Waskett study
The participants went to Jorvik museum. This is a museum which has been rebuilt to replicate the ciry of York in the Viking times, including the smells. The participants were asked to recall the details of their trip
Aggleton and Waskett findings
Recreating the smells helped people recall details of their trip more accurately, even after several years
Aggleton and Waskett conclusions
When the smell cues from learning are present, there is less forgetting
Strengths of retrieval failure theory
- retrieval cues can help overcome some forgetting in everyday situations
- there is a large range of research supporting the retrieval failure explanation
Retrieval Failure real-world applications
When we need to get something from a different room, we may forget what we were there to do once we go into the room, however when we return to the original room we remember what we needed. This suggests that it may be helpful to recall the initial environment to recall a piece of information. This shows that research can create strategies to improve recall
Retrieval failure research-support
Many researchers, like Godden and Baddeley and Carter and Cassaday have shown how a lack of necessary cues at recall can lead to contest-dependent and state-dependent forgetting.
Michael Eysenck and Mark Keane (2010)
They argue that retrieval failure is the main reason for forgetting in the LTM
Baddeley (1997)
Baddeley argued that context effect are not very strong, especially in everyday life. Different situations would have to be very different before an effect can be seen. This means that retrieval-failure due to lack of contextual cues may not explain much about everyday forgetting.
Limitations of retrieval failure theory
Context effects may depend on the type of memory
Godden and Baddeley replication (1980)
The underwater study was replicated using a recognition test instead of recall. Participants had to say is they recognised a word read out from a list.
Godden and Baddeley replication findings
The performance on the memory test was the same in all 4 conditions
Godden and Baddeley replication conclusions
Retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies to recall, rather than recognition
Who researched chewing gum and memory?
Jess Baker et at (2004)
Baker et al study
The participants had to learn a list of 15 words in 2 minutes. Then they had to recall the list straight away and after 24 hours.
Baker 4 groups
- Learn with gum - recall with gum
- Learn with gum - recall without gum
- Learn without gum - recall with gum
- Learn without gum - recall without gum
Baker findings
There was only a small difference between groups with immediate recall. After 24 hours, the average number of words correctly recalled was:
- Gum-gum : 11 - Gum-no gum : 8 - No gum-gum : 7 - No gum-no gum : 8.5
