Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Faiulure (5)

Retrieval failure due to absence of cues (1)

The reason people forget information may be because of insufficient cues.

 

When information Is initially placed in memory, associated cues are stores at the same time. If these cues are not available at the time of recall, it may appear as if you have forgotten the information

Due to = retrieval failure - not being able to access memories that are there.

 

Encoding Specific Principle (1983) (1)

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

 

He summarised the pattern in the encoding specific principle = this states that a cue (if it is going to be helpful) has to be both present at encoding and at retrieval.

 

It follows from this that if the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different there will be some forgetting.

 

Encoding Specific Principle (1983) (2)

Some cues are encoded at the same time of learning in a meaningful way, such cues are used in mnemonic techniques. Other cues are also encoded at the time of learning but not in a meaningful way:

 

Context -dependent forgetting = recall depends on external cue (weather, place)

State - dependent forgetting = recall depends on internal cue (feelings)

 

Research on context dependent forgetting (1)

Procedure = Godden and Baddeley studies 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, this created 4 conditions:

 

1. Learn on land - recall on land

2. Learn on land - recall underwater

3. Learn underwater - recall underwater

4. Learn underwater - recall on land

 

Research on context dependent forgetting (2)

Findings =

 

In two of these conditions the environmental contexts of learning and recall matched, the other 2 did not.

 

Accurate recall was 32% lower in the non-matching conditions.

 

They concluded that in the non-match conditions, the external cues available at learning were different from the ones available at recall and this led to retrieval failure.

Research on State dependant forgetting (1)

Procedure = Carter and Cassaday gave antihistamine drugs to their participants. The antihistamine had a mild sedative effect making the participants slightly drowsy. This creates an internal physiological state different from the usual state of being awake and alert.

 

Participants learnt a list of words and passages of prose and then recalled the information through 4 different conditions.

 

1. Learn on drug - recall on drug

2. Learn on drug - recall when not on drug

3. Learn not on drug - recall not on drug

4. Learn not on drug - recall on drug

Research on State dependant forgetting (2)

Findings = in the conditions where there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significantly worse.

 

When the cues are absent then there is more forgetting.

A03 - Range of research support

The research by Godden and Baddeley, carter and Cassaday are two examples that show that 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 in long term memory.

 

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

A03 - separating context and state dependent forgetting

It is difficult to separate the effects of context and state dependant forgetting.

 

Murre (2021) has made the point that in the deep-sea divers study, the context of learning and recall was not the only thing that changed.

 

Being submerged under 7 metres of open water would have meant changes in body temperature, oxygen levels and breathing patterns.

 

It may be that there changes - in the individuals physiological state - had a bigger influence on the reduced rate of recall at the retrieval stage/

 

This suggests that we cannot be sure that Godden and Baddeley’s findings were the result of context or state dependant forgetting, or both.

A03 - context effects vary in recall and recognition

Another limitation is that context affects may depend substantially on the type of memory being tested.

 

Godden and Baddeley replicated their underwater experiment but used a recognition test instead of recall - participants had to say whether they recognised a word read to them from a list instead of retrieving it themselves.

 

When recognition was tested there was no context dependent effect, performance was the same in all 4 conditions.

 

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