Retrieval Failure

Question 1

Retreival failure

Answer 1

Forgetting when we dont have the cues needed to access the memory. The memory is available but not accessible

Question 2

Cue

Answer 2

A trigger of information allowing us to access a memory

Question 3

Who discovered teh encoding specificity principle?

Answer 3

Endel Tulving in 1983

Question 4

Encoding specificity principle

Answer 4

‘The greater the similarity between the encidng event and the retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of recalling the original memory’ (tulving)

Question 5

When will forgetting occur with retrieval failure?

Answer 5

If the cues present at encoding are different from those at retrieval

Question 6

Context-dependent forgetting

Answer 6

Recall depends on external cues

Question 7

State dependent forgetting

Answer 7

Recall depends on internal cues

Question 8

Examples of internal cues

Answer 8

Feeling upset or happy, being drunk

Question 9

Examples of external cues

Answer 9

The weather or a place

Question 10

Who researched context-dependent forgetting?

Answer 10

Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley in 1975

Question 11

Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley study

Answer 11

Depp-sea divers learned a list of words euther underwater or on land. They then recalled the words either underwater or on land

Question 12

What were the 4 conditions in the godden and baddeley study?

Answer 12

Learn on land - recall on land
Learn on land - recall underwater
Learn underwater - recall on land
Learn underwater - recall underwater

Question 13

Godden and Baddeley findings

Answer 13

When the environmental conditions did not match, accurate recall was 40% lower

Question 14

Godden and Baddeley conclusions

Answer 14

External cues available at learning were different from the ones at recall, leading to retrieval failure

Question 15

Who researched state-dependent forgetting?

Answer 15

Sara carter and Helen Cassaday in 1998

Question 16

Carter and Cassaday study

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What were the 4 conditions in the Carter and Cassaday study?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Carter and Cassaday findings

Answer 18

When the internal state at learning and recall were mismatched, the performance on the memory test was significantly worse

Question 19

Carter and Cassaday conclusions

Answer 19

When cues from learning are absent there is more forgetting

Question 20

Who researched smell as a context-related cue?

Answer 20

John Aggleton and Lousie Waskett in 1999

Question 21

Aggleton and Waskett study

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Aggleton and Waskett findings

Answer 22

Recreating the smells helped people recall details of their trip more accurately, even after several years

Question 23

Aggleton and Waskett conclusions

Answer 23

When the smell cues from learning are present, there is less forgetting

Question 24

Strengths of retrieval failure theory

Answer 24

• retrieval cues can help overcome some forgetting in everyday situations
• there is a large range of research supporting the retrieval failure explanation

Question 25

Retrieval Failure real-world applications

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Retrieval failure research-support

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

Michael Eysenck and Mark Keane (2010)

Answer 27

They argue that retrieval failure is the main reason for forgetting in the LTM

Question 28

Baddeley (1997)

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

Limitations of retrieval failure theory

Answer 29

Context effects may depend on the type of memory

Question 30

Godden and Baddeley replication (1980)

Answer 30

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.

Question 31

Godden and Baddeley replication findings

Answer 31

The performance on the memory test was the same in all 4 conditions

Question 32

Godden and Baddeley replication conclusions

Answer 32

Retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies to recall, rather than recognition

Question 33

Who researched chewing gum and memory?

Answer 33

Jess Baker et at (2004)

Question 34

Baker et al study

Answer 34

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.

Question 35

Baker 4 groups

Answer 35

• Learn with gum - recall with gum
• Learn with gum - recall without gum
• Learn without gum - recall with gum
• Learn without gum - recall without gum

Question 36

Baker findings

Answer 36

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