Retrieval failure

Cue

A trigger (word, phrase, picture) 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. Indirect cues may be external (environmental context) or internal (mood)

Retrieval failure

A form of forgetting. It 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

Context-dependent forgetting

Recall depends on external cue (weather or place)

State-dependent forgetting

Recall depends on internal cue (feeling upset/happy)

Encoding specificity principle - Tulving

Reviewed research into retrieval failure and discovered a consistent pattern to the findings.

Summarised pattern in encoding specificity principle.

States that a cue has to be both:

1. Present at encoding

2. Present at recall

Some cues are encoded at the time of learning but not in a meaningful way.

Godden and Baddeley 1975 study

Studied deep-sea divers who work underwater.

Wanted to see if training on land helped with work underwater or not.

Learnt a list of words and recalled them in 4 different conditions:

1. Learn on land, recall on land

2. Learn on land, recall underwater

3. Learn underwater, recall on land

4. Learn underwater, recall underwater.

In 2 of the conditions the environmental contexts of learning and recall matched. The other 2 did not matched.

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

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

Carter and Cassady 1998 study

Gave antihistamine drugs to participants that had a mild sedative seffect so participants were a bit drowsy. Creates an internal physiological state different from the usual state of being awake and alert.

Participants had to learn lists of words and passages of prose and then recall it, with 4 different conditions.

1. Learn on drug, recall on drug

2. Learn on drug, recall not on drug

3. Learn not on drug, recall on drug

4. Learn not on drug, recall not on drug

In conditions with a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significatly worse

When cues are absent, there is more forgetting

Evaluation of Godden and Baddeley, Carter and Cassaday

Shows range of research that supports the retrieval failure explanation

Eysneck and Keane 2010 argued that retrieval failure is the main reason for forgetting for LTM.

Evidence shows that retrieval failure in real-world situations as well as in the highly-controlled conditions in the lab.

Baddeley 1997

Argues that context effects are not strong especially in everyday life.

Different context have to be different before an effect is seen. It’s hard to find a more different environment to land than being underwater. (Godden and Baddeley)

However, learning something in one room and recalling it in another room is unlikely to result in the environments are not different enough.

Means retireval due to lack of contextual cues may not explain much everyday forgetting

Murre 2021

Made the point that in the deep-sea diver's’ study, the context of learning and recall was not the only thing that changed.

Being submerged like Godden and Baddeley’s participants, there would be changes in body temperature, oxygen levels and breathing patterns.

May be that the changes in their physiological states had a bigger influence on the reduced rate of recall.

Suggests that we cannot be sure whether Godden and Baddeley’s findings were the result of context or state dependent forgetting.

Godden and Baddeley 1980

Replicated their original study. 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 four conditions.

Suggests that retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person recalls information rather than recognising it.

Abernethy 1940

Supports context dependent forgetting.

Students were tested before they started a couse and then were tested every week. Either tested by their usual teacher in the usual room or by an unfamiliar teacher in a unfamiliar room.

Recall better for those who had learnt the information in the same context as they recalled it.

Overton 1972

Darley 1973

Participants had to learn when drunk. Recalled better when they were drunk again rather than sober. Supports state-dependent forgetting.

Participants were given marijuana. Had to hide money while high. Recalled memory was better when they were high again rather than sober. Supports state-dependent forgetting.

Both unethical - Participants could get addicted to the substance