Retrieval failure

Retrieval failure

• A form of forgetting that occurs when we don't have the necessary cues to access memory

• The memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided

Cue

• A 'trigger' of information that allows us to access a memory. Such cues may be meaningful or may be indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning. For example, cues may be external (environmental context) or internal (mood or degree of drunkenness).

Encoding specificity principle

• Tulving (1983) reviewed research into retrieval failure and discovered a consistent pattern to the findings

• He stated that a cue has to be both present when we learn the material and present at retrieval. If the cues available and retrieval are different there will be some forgetting

• There are two examples of non-meaningful cues: Context-dependent forgetting, where recall depends on an external cue (e.g. weather or a place); State-dependent forgetting, where recall depends on internal cue (e.g. feeling upset)

Research on context dependent forgetting

• Godden and Baddeley (1975) studied deep-sea divers who work underwater to see if training on land helped or hindered their work underwater. The divers learned a list of words either underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land

• Two of these conditions matched (learning and recall with what is being researched), whereas in the other two they did not. Accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions.

• They concluded that the external cues available at learning were different from the ones available at recall and this led to retrieval failure

Research on state dependent forgetting

• Carter and Cassaday (1998) gave drugs for treating hay fever to their participants. The drugs had a mild sedative effect making the participants slightly drowsy. This creates an internal state different from the 'normal' state of being awake and alert. The participants had to learn lists of words and passages of written language and then recall the information

• In the conditions where there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significantly worse. So when the cues are absent then there is more forgetting

Evaluation- Strengths

• Real world application:

• Retrieval cues can help to overcome some forgetting in everyday situations. Although cues may not have a very strong effect on forgetting, Baddeley suggests they are still worth paying attention to. When we have trouble remembering something, it is probably worth making the effort to recall the environment in which you learned it first

• This shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall

Evaluation- Weaknesses

• Recall versus recognition:

• Context effects may depend on the type of memory being tested. Godden and Baddeley (1980) replicated their underwater experiment but used a recognition test instead of recall, where participants had to say whether they recognised a word read to them from a list instead of retrieving it for themselves. When recognition was tested there was no context-dependent effect, performance was the same in all four conditions

• This suggests that retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognise it

Evaluation- Strengths

• Research support

• The studies by Godden and Baddeley and Carter and Cassaday show that a lack of relevant cues at recall can lead to context-dependent and state-dependent forgetting in everyday life.

• Memory researchers Eysenck and Keane (2010) argue that retrieval failure is perhaps the main reason for forgetting from LTM

• This evidence shows that retrieval failure occurs in real-world situations as well as in the highly controlled conditions of the lab

Weakness

• Countering research support - Baddeley says that context effects are not that strong, as most of the time, contexts do not vary enough (such as between kitchen and bedroom). This shows that retrieval failure may not contribute to much of everyday forgetting