Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval failure

Question 1

What is retrieval failure theory?

Answer 1

The theory that nothing is ever forgotten, we just lack the cues needed to get to the information. When we process information, a cue is stored alongside it, if absent forgetting is likely to occur

Question 2

Who developed the encoding specificity principle and what is it?

Answer 2

Tulving (1983)- argued that cues are only helpful in retrieving information if they are present at the time we encode the information and present at the time we need to retrieve it

Question 3

What must the cues be other than present at the time of encoding and remembering?

Answer 3

meaningful

Question 4

What is context dependent forgetting?

Answer 4

External cues, being in a different place at recall than when we learned the information might mean we can’t access the original memory

Question 5

What is state dependent forgetting?

Answer 5

Internal cues, being in a different mood/state of arousal at recall than that of learning may mean we cannot access the original memory

Question 6

What is a strength of context dependent-retrieval failure theory?

Answer 6

Evidence to support by Godden and Baddeley (1975)- drivers learned a list of words on land or under water- they had to recall either on land or under water- recall was best when the place of learning matched the place of recall- supports forgetting being more likely when external cues are lacking

Question 7

What is a strength of state dependent- retrieval failure theory?

Answer 7

Evidence to support- Goodwin et al (1969)- divided 48 male medical students into a drunk condition and a sober condition- those in the drunk condition had the same amount of alcohol- recall was best when the state of learning matched the state of recall-supports forgetting with a lack of internal cues

Question 8

What is a strength of retrieval failure theory?

Answer 8

Useful implications- if we know forgetting happens in this way we can take steps to avoid it- e.g. the cognitive interview being used to increase the accuracy of witness testimony- helped to develop these strategies and positively contributed to the economy

Question 9

What is a limitation of retrieval failure theory?

Answer 9

We often have to infer forgetting has occurred to an absence of cues- cannot directly measure the encoding specificity principle- memory is a cognitive process- inferences may not be entirely accurate- limits the validity