Retrieval failure due to absence of cues Flashcards
What are the 3 types of cues?
- Context cues- the environment the information was learnt in
- State cues- how you were feeling when you learnt the information
- Organisational cues- helping someone recall things by putting it into categories
If the point is:
A strength of the retrieval failure due to absence of cues theory is that it has research support as an explanation of forgetting.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- The Overton study found that participants were more able to recall material when in the same internal state as they learnt it in (e.g. drunk or sober).
Link- This illustrates that cues are important for memory recall.
If the point is:
A weakness of the retrieval failure due to absence of cues explanation is that it only appears to offer an explanation of some situations when people forget, not all.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- It doesn’t explain repression where emotionally threatening events are banished into the unconscious mind to prevent feelings of anxiety. This is known as ‘motivated forgetting’, although we aren’t consciously aware that this is happened. For example, forgetting to go to the dentist because you fear it will be a painful experience.
Link- This implies that there are alternative explanations for forgetting and that this explanation alone cannot explain all incidences of forgetting.
If the point is:
A strength of the retrieval failure due to absence of cues explanation is that it can help explain everyday experiences of memory such as the ‘tip of the tongue’ experience.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- For example, when you forget something and you’re prompted with the first letter of the word.
Link- This means the retrieval failure due to absence of cues has some element of face validity as an explanation of forgetting, as it looks correct on the surface.
If the point is:
A strength of the retrieval failure due to absence of cues explanation is that it has good practical applications, as it can help us explain and prevent forgetting.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- Cue dependency has been exploited within the police force within the interviewing techniques that police use, which are designed to enhance cognitive memory.
Link- Hence, the retrieval failure due to absence of cues theory has been helpful to society at large.
What are the evaluation points for retrieval failure due to absence of cues?
+ It has research support as an explanation of forgetting
— It only appears to offer an explanation of some situations when people forget, not all
+ It can help explain everyday experiences of memory, such as the ‘tip of the tongue’ experience
+ It has good practical applications, as it can help us explain and prevent forgetting
