explanation for forgetting: retrieval failure

Question 1

cue dependent forgetting

Answer 1

this theory explains forgetting in the LTM

Question 2

retrieval failure

Answer 2

the information is stored in the LTM but cannot be accessed
- forgetting according to this theory is due to a lack of cues

Question 3

cues

Answer 3

things that serve as a reminder and may meaningfully link to material or not, such as environmental cues or mental cues

Question 4

encoding specificity principle

Answer 4

Tulving & Thomson
- proposed that memory is most effective if information that was present at encoding is also available at the time of retrieval
- states that a cue doesn’t have to be exactly right but the closer to the original item, the more useful it will be

Question 5

2 types of cue dependent forgetting

Answer 5

context and state

Question 6

context dependent forgetting

Answer 6

can occur when the environment during recall is different from the environment you were in when you were learning

Question 7

state dependent forgetting

Answer 7

occurs when your mood or physiological state during recall is different from the mood you were in when you were learning

Question 8

Godden and Baddeley

Answer 8

• investigated the effect of environment on recall
• 18 divers were asked to learn lists of 36 unrelated words under 4 conditions
  A: learn on beach - recall on beach (13.5)
  B: learn on beach - recall underwater (8.6)
  C: learn underwater - recall on beach (8.5)
  D: learn underwater - recall underwater (11.4)
  » shows how context was acted as a cue to re all

Question 9

strength of context:

Answer 9

real-life application
- this is used as a strategy to improve recall in eye-witness memory when the witnesses are asked to describe the context in which the incident they have witnessed took place during cognitive interviews

Question 10

Goodwin et. al

Answer 10

48 male medical students participated on day 1 in a training session and on day 2 in a testing, randomly assigned to 4 groups
» same state
G1: sober on both
G2: intoxicated on both
» different state
G3: intoxicated on 1, sober on 2
G4: sober on 1, intoxicated on 2

• intoxicated group had 100ml alcohol in their blood
• had to perform 4 tests: avoidance, verbal rote-learning, word-association and picture recognition task
• more errors made in the opposing states than the same ones, SS performed best in everything
• supports state-dependent memory

Question 11

limitation of state

Answer 11

• limited ecological validity because the tasks performed were artificial therefore their performance might not reflect the way they would perform on tasks in everyday life
• may have changed behaviours to fit in with the aims of the study

Question 12

strength of state

Answer 12

• real life application
  (same for EWT)
• describe their mood/emotional state when the incident they witnessed took place