M- Retrieval Failure

Question 1

What does retrieval failure argue?

Answer 1

• Retrieval failure argues that forgetting occurs in the absence of appropriate cues.
• When information is initially placed in memory, data associated with this information is stored at the same time.
• If these cues are not available at the time of recall, it may make it appear as if you have forgotten the information when in fact you just cannot access it at that time.
• Some cues are linked to the material that needs to be remembered in a meaningful way, for example, the anagram ‘STM’ may lead people to recall all sorts of information about short-term memory.
• Other cues are coded at the
  same time of learning but not in a meaningful way.

Question 2

What are the two types of forgetting?

Answer 2

1) Context-Dependent Forgetting

2) State-dependent forgetting

Question 3

What is context-dependent forgetting?

Answer 3

• The environment in which material is learnt can act as a cue.
• This means that if you recall information in the same environment that you learned it (e.g. the same
  classroom) then your recall will be better.
• If you are not in the same context at retrieval as you were at coding then forgetting can occur.

Question 4

What is state-dependent forgetting?

Answer 4

• An individual’s physical state can affect their recall. - Research studies suggest
  that recall is facilitated if people have a similar physiological state at recall as
  when the information was coded.
• If you are not in the same physical state at
  recall as you were when you learned the information then you might fail to
  access the information.

Question 5

Give advantages of the retrieval failure theory.

Answer 5

1) Godden and Baddely got divers to learn unrelated words and recall them in four different conditions:
- Learn on beach recall on beach
- Learn on beach recall underwater,
- Learn underwater, recall on the beach
- Learn underwater recall underwater.
- The experiment found that Recall was better when the environment in which they learnt and recalled information matched

2) Concept of context-dependent cues has real life applications.
- It suggests that remembering the context in which you encoded the memory may improve memory recall.
- This is a basic principle of the cognitive interview.

Question 6

Give disadvantages of the retrieval failure of theory.

Answer 6

1) Baddeley (1997) argues that the influence of cues is not actually very strong.
- In real life, we often recall something in a different context to where we learnt
it.
- For instance, students do not often take their GCSE examinations in the
classroom where they learned the information they need for that exam.

2) Retrieval cues do not always work since our learning is related to a lot more than just cues.
- Also many of the research studies carried out, tend to focus on word lists or passages.
- This lacks ecological validity since we are not just learners at school but we are learning throughout our lifetime.
- Thus most studies lack realism and do not give an overall picture of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting.