Retrieval failure theory

1. The reason that we forget is due to insufficient cues

2. Cues will help trigger memories. If the same cue if there at encoding and at retrieval it is likely we can recall the memory. Cues can be location, emotion, people etc.

Why do we forget - the retrieval failure theory

1. What is the definition of the theory?

2. What helps to trigger memories?

1. Meaningful and organised

2. Not meaningful and unorganised

what are the 2 types of cues?

When there is a meaningful link or connection to a memory to help you remember it.

For example, mnemonics are tools to help remember facts or a large amount of information. It can be a song, rhyme, acronym, image, or phrase to help remember a list of facts in a certain order.

what are meaningful/ organised cues?

1. Context-dependent forgetting

2. State-dependant forgetting

what are the 2 types of unmeaningful cues?

Environmental triggers e.g. location is the same at encoding and retrieval

context-dependant forgetting

Internal cues - e.g. the state of the person is the same at encoding and retrieval

State-dependant forgetting

1. tested the effect of anti-histamines on participants. They had a mild sedative effect making the participants slightly drowsy.

2. This creates an internal physiological state different from the ‘normal’ state of being awake and alert.

3. The participants had to learn a list of words and passages of prose and then recall the information, creating four conditions.

Retrieval failure evidence - anti-histamines

1. What did 2 psychologists test?

2. What was the effect of this drug, and what state did this create in the participants?

3. What was the procedure?

1. They found that in the conditions where there was a mismatch between the 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.

2. This study supports state-dependant forgetting.

Retrieval failure evidence - anti-histamines FINDINGS

1. What were the findings?

2. Which type of forgetting can this study be used to support?

Anti-histamine research. This is because the findings state that a difference of internal cues at encoding and retrieval leads to more forgetting, as the individual is in a different state of mind.

which research can be used to support state-dependent forgetting? Why?

Godden and Baddeley’s diving research. The study suggests environmental cues affect memory when the environment is different for retrieval and coding.

which research can be used to support context-dependant forgetting? Why?

1. Godden and Baddeley carried out a study in which divers learned lists of words either underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land.

2. They found that in two of these conditions, the environmental contexts of learning and recall matched, whereas in the other two, they did not.

3. Accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions.

4. Context-dependant forgetting

Retrieval failure evidence - divers

1. What was the procedure?

2. What were the findings?

3. What is the % of recall in the non-matching conditions?

4. Which type of forgetting does this support?