Outline and evaluate retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting [16 marks]
AO1
Forgetting in LTM is mainly due to retrieval failure. Information is available but you can’t access it.
This happens when you have insufficient cues.
Things that can act as a cue:
Environmental cues and mental cues
Context-dependent failure- need for environmental cues
State-dependent cues- need for mental cues.
Godden and Baddeley (1975)- context-dependent
- To see if people who learn and are tested in the same environment will recall more than those who
learn and are tested in different environments
- Participants were deep-sea divers. They were divided into 4 groups. All groups were given the same
list of words to learn.
- Groups 1 and 3 recalled 40% more words than groups 2 and 4
- Recall of information will be better if it happens in the same context that learning takes place.
- Memory for words learned on land are best recalled on land, and memory learned underwater are
best recalled underwater.
- Support the encoding principle
- Memory is most effective when the information that is present at the time of learning is also
present at the time of retrieval
- Retrieval cues help to overcome some forgetting in everyday situations
- Context effects may depend substantially on the type of memory tested
Godden and Baddeley (1975) investigated the effect of contextual cues on recall, in a novel
experiment using divers.
Encoding specificity:
Tulving and Thompson (1973) proposed the encoding specificity principle. They said, “Memory is
most effective if the information that is present at learning is also present at the time of retrieval”
The cues a person is exposed to, whether environmental or mental, the more likely they are to
remember.
AO3
Context-Dependent Forgetting-
Point: Previous research from Abernathy (1940) supports the influence of contextual cues in
remembering.
Example/Evidence: Abernathy (1940) found that students performed better in tests if the tests took
place in the same room as the learning of the material had taken place and were administered by
the same instructor who had taught the information.
Elaboration: This is a strength because it highlights that the presence of contextual cues can aid our
memory and help us to remember information. on the contrary to this, the absence of contextual
cues can cause us to forget information/find it difficult to retrieve the stored information.
Point: Godden & Baddeley’s research can be criticised for being an artificial task.
Example/Evidence: For example, although the divers were familiar with being under the water (due
to their diving careers). Being asked to remember and then recall a random list of words is not a
typical everyday task.
AO1
Forgetting in LTM is mainly due to retrieval failure. Information is available but you can’t access it.
This happens when you have insufficient cues.
Things that can act as a cue:
Environmental cues and mental cues
Context-dependent failure- need for environmental cues
State-dependent cues- need for mental cues.
Godden and Baddeley (1975)- context-dependent
- To see if people who learn and are tested in the same environment will recall more than those who
learn and are tested in different environments
- Participants were deep-sea divers. They were divided into 4 groups. All groups were given the same
list of words to learn.
- Groups 1 and 3 recalled 40% more words than groups 2 and 4
- Recall of information will be better if it happens in the same context that learning takes place.
- Memory for words learned on land are best recalled on land, and memory learned underwater are
best recalled underwater.
- Support the encoding principle
- Memory is most effective when the information that is present at the time of learning is also
present at the time of retrieval
- Retrieval cues help to overcome some forgetting in everyday situations
- Context effects may depend substantially on the type of memory tested
Godden and Baddeley (1975) investigated the effect of contextual cues on recall, in a novel
experiment using divers.
Encoding specificity:
Tulving and Thompson (1973) proposed the encoding specificity principle. They said, “Memory is
most effective if the information that is present at learning is also present at the time of retrieval”
The cues a person is exposed to, whether environmental or mental, the more likely they are to
remember.
AO3
Context-Dependent Forgetting-
Point: Previous research from Abernathy (1940) supports the influence of contextual cues in
remembering.
Example/Evidence: Abernathy (1940) found that students performed better in tests if the tests took
place in the same room as the learning of the material had taken place and were administered by
the same instructor who had taught the information.
Elaboration: This is a strength because it highlights that the presence of contextual cues can aid our
memory and help us to remember information. on the contrary to this, the absence of contextual
cues can cause us to forget information/find it difficult to retrieve the stored information.
Point: Godden & Baddeley’s research can be criticised for being an artificial task.
Example/Evidence: For example, although the divers were familiar with being under the water (due
to their diving careers). Being asked to remember and then recall a random list of words is not a
typical everyday task.
