Retrieval failure Flashcards
(14 cards)
What is retrieval failure
When information is available but inaccessible
When does retrieval failure happen
When you have insufficient cues.
Who proposed the encoding specificity principle
Tulving and Thompson
What is the encoding specificity principle
When memories are created, associated cues are stored at the same time. If cues aren’t present hen trying to recall info, forgetting will take place.
What is context dependant forgetting
When the external environment for recall is different to the encoding environment
What is state dependant forgetting
When an individuals internal environment (mood, emotions, intoxicant etc) is different at recall to encoding.
A study supporting context dependant forgetting
Godden and Baddeley had divers learn and recall underwater and on land. They found recall was 40% lower when learning and recall environments were not the same
Evaluating Godden and Baddeley’s research
In a replication, there was no context effect when divers had to recognise words from a list rather than recall, showing the effect may only be applicable to certain types of test, weakening the explanation.
Study supporting state dependant forgetting
Carter and Cassaday had ppts learn and recall passages on and off of anti-histamines. Higher recall rate when the state of learning matched the state of recall.
Evaluating Carter and Cassaday’s study
Ethical concerns using drugs
Low ecological validity
Motivated forgetting as an alternate explanation
Repression (Freud) is the unconscious forgetting of traumatic events ,making them difficult to recall.
Not a sole explanation.
Practical application of retrieval failure
Cognitive interviews reinstate context, making police conduct more detailed and accurate interviews. Accurate convictions make society safe and save the economy from wasting money on prolonged court cases.
Differences between interference theory and retrieval failure
IT focuses on how information impacts each other while RF focuses on situations and cues.
Similarities in interference theory and retrieval failure
They both have support, they are both cognitive explanations.
