Explanations for forgetting: retrieval failure

What’s the encoding specificity principle (Tulving and Thomson)

• memory is most effective if information present at encoding is also available at the time of retrieval

• a cue doesn’t have to be exactly right but the closer the cue is to the original item, the more useful it will be when remembering something

Context-dependent forgetting (Abernethy)

• arranged a group of students to be tested before a certain course began,

• tested each week

• 4 experiemntal conditions

• some tested in their usual teaching room by their usual instructor

• others were tested by a different instructor in their usual teaching room

• others were tested in a different room but by their usual instructor or by a different one in a different room

State-dependent forgetting

• the mental state you are in at the time of learning can also act as a cue

• occurs when our internal cues at the time of encoding don’t match those present at recall

state-dependent forgetting procedure(Goodwin)

• asked male volunteers to remember a list of words when they were either drunk or sober

• pps were asked 24 hours later to recall the list when some were sober but others had to get drunk again

evaluation of reteival failure (Abernethy) limitation

• the research suggests that you ought to revise in the room where you will be taking your exam, unrealistic

• Smith exapanded on this by saying you could use your imagination to achieve this

• just thinking of a room where you did the original learning was as effective

• can be used in real life scenarios = eyewitness testimony

what is Context dependent forgetting?

• forgetting occurs when our external cues at the time of encoding/learning don’t match those present at recall

• context effects only occur when memory in being tested in a particular way

Godden and Baddeley (limitation)

• tested deep water divers

• word list learnt underwater

• word list recalled underwater

• non matching conditions water vs land

What did baddeley conclude? limitation

• difficult to find conditions in real life which are polar as water and land

• questioned the existence of context effects in normal life

• cues associated with encoding and retrieval are uncommonly distinct

results of Abernethy

participants who did the test in their usual room with their usual teacher performed the best

results from Tulving and Psotka

the more lists a pp had to learn the worse their performance became