✏️ Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval
failure
Retrieval failure is due to a lack of cues. When information is put into memory, cues are stored at
the same time. If the cues aren't available at the time of retrieval then you might not be able to
access certain memories, even if they are there. Cues can help retrieval if the same ones are present
at both the time of encoding, and when we recall the information. If the cues are different or
unavailable at the time of retrieval then there will be some forgetting. Meaningful links can help as
cues to recall information. Non-meaningful links are external and internal cues. External cues are
such as the weather or the place and are called context-depending forgetting. Internal cues can be
certain emotions such as feeling sad or being drunk and are called state-dependent forgetting.
Godden and Baddeley carried out a study into context-depending forgetting, involving external cues.
Deep-sea divers learned word lists and were then asked to recall them. There were 4 different
conditions for the divers. The first condition got divers to recall to learn and recall on land. The
second condition had divers learn on land and then recall underwater. The third condition got divers
to learn underwater and recall on land. The fourth condition got divers to learn underwater and
recall underwater. The study found that accurate recall was 40% lower in mismatched conditions
than in matched ones. This is because of a lack of cues due to the encoded context cues at the time
of recall being different, and so the material was not accessible.
Carter and Cassaday carried out research into state-depending forgetting. They got participants to
learn a list of words and then later recall them, in four different groups. The first condition got
participants to learn when they were on drugs and then recall when they were not on drugs. The
second condition got them to learn when on drugs and then recall when not on drugs. The third
condition got them to learn when not on drugs and then recall on drugs. The fourth condition got
them to learn when not on drugs and then recall not on drugs. The recall was much worse in the
mismatched cues conditions compared with the matched ones. When the cues that were present at
encoding at absent at retrieval then the information is harder to recall, so hence there is more
forgetting.
A strength is that retrieval cues can have real-world applications. Often people go into a room and
forget what they were getting, but when they go into the previous room they remember again.
When people have trouble remembering it could be because of the environment in which the
information was first learned it. This shows how research into this information can help apply to real
life to improve recall.
Another strength is that there is an impressive range of supporting evidence. The studies in the
description show how a lack of cues can lead to forgetting in everyday life. One research said that
retrieval failure is the main reason for forgetting information in long-term memory. This shows that
retrieval failure can occur in everyday life as well as in a controlled lab.
However, a counterpoint is that different contexts have to be very different before an effect is seen.
Learning something in one room and then forgetting it in another is unlikely to happen because the
environments aren't much different. This means that this information might not apply so much to
everyday life and forget.
A limitation is that the context effect can vary in recall and recognition. Godden and Baddeley
replicated their study with a recognition test instead of a recall test. They found that there were no
context-dependent findings and the results were the same in all four conditions. This suggests that
retrieval failure is a limited explanation because is only applied when someone has to recall the
information but doesn't apply when they need to recognise it.
failure
Retrieval failure is due to a lack of cues. When information is put into memory, cues are stored at
the same time. If the cues aren't available at the time of retrieval then you might not be able to
access certain memories, even if they are there. Cues can help retrieval if the same ones are present
at both the time of encoding, and when we recall the information. If the cues are different or
unavailable at the time of retrieval then there will be some forgetting. Meaningful links can help as
cues to recall information. Non-meaningful links are external and internal cues. External cues are
such as the weather or the place and are called context-depending forgetting. Internal cues can be
certain emotions such as feeling sad or being drunk and are called state-dependent forgetting.
Godden and Baddeley carried out a study into context-depending forgetting, involving external cues.
Deep-sea divers learned word lists and were then asked to recall them. There were 4 different
conditions for the divers. The first condition got divers to recall to learn and recall on land. The
second condition had divers learn on land and then recall underwater. The third condition got divers
to learn underwater and recall on land. The fourth condition got divers to learn underwater and
recall underwater. The study found that accurate recall was 40% lower in mismatched conditions
than in matched ones. This is because of a lack of cues due to the encoded context cues at the time
of recall being different, and so the material was not accessible.
Carter and Cassaday carried out research into state-depending forgetting. They got participants to
learn a list of words and then later recall them, in four different groups. The first condition got
participants to learn when they were on drugs and then recall when they were not on drugs. The
second condition got them to learn when on drugs and then recall when not on drugs. The third
condition got them to learn when not on drugs and then recall on drugs. The fourth condition got
them to learn when not on drugs and then recall not on drugs. The recall was much worse in the
mismatched cues conditions compared with the matched ones. When the cues that were present at
encoding at absent at retrieval then the information is harder to recall, so hence there is more
forgetting.
A strength is that retrieval cues can have real-world applications. Often people go into a room and
forget what they were getting, but when they go into the previous room they remember again.
When people have trouble remembering it could be because of the environment in which the
information was first learned it. This shows how research into this information can help apply to real
life to improve recall.
Another strength is that there is an impressive range of supporting evidence. The studies in the
description show how a lack of cues can lead to forgetting in everyday life. One research said that
retrieval failure is the main reason for forgetting information in long-term memory. This shows that
retrieval failure can occur in everyday life as well as in a controlled lab.
However, a counterpoint is that different contexts have to be very different before an effect is seen.
Learning something in one room and then forgetting it in another is unlikely to happen because the
environments aren't much different. This means that this information might not apply so much to
everyday life and forget.
A limitation is that the context effect can vary in recall and recognition. Godden and Baddeley
replicated their study with a recognition test instead of a recall test. They found that there were no
context-dependent findings and the results were the same in all four conditions. This suggests that
retrieval failure is a limited explanation because is only applied when someone has to recall the
information but doesn't apply when they need to recognise it.
