Explanations for Forgetting-Retrieval Failure

Explanations for Forgetting-Retrieval Failure

1. Description

   • Encoding specificity principle
     • Material present at encoding is present at retrieval (Tulving and Thomson)
   • Tulving and Pearlstone
     • Category+word learned. Free recall was 40%, cued recall was 60%
   • Context dependent forgetting
     • Abernethy- recall best with same instructor in the room
   • State dependent forgetting
     • Goodwin et al- recall was best when initial state (drunk or sober) matched the state at recall

2. Evaluation

   • High Validity
     • Wealth of supporting research evidence both in a lab and natural experiments
   • Real world application
     • Revising and cognitive interviews
   • Cues don't always work
     • Not useful when learning meaningful material

3. Further Evaluation

   • Encoding specificity is circular
     • It is not a casual relationship and can not be tested
   • Retrieval failure can explain interference effects and thus is the more important explanation of forgetting