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explanations for forgetting exam question
exam question on the topic of memory aqa a level psychology
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Discuss one explanation for forgetting (8 marks)One explanation for forgetting is the retrieval failure theory which is based on the encoding
specificity principle. This principle states that memory will be most effective if cues that were
present at encoding are also present at the time of retrieval. If cues available at encoding and
retrieval; are different or absent at retrieval; then there will be some forgetting. Encoding is the
way we store information and the cues we associate with it; these can be context or state
dependent. Context dependent forgetting occurs when the place where something encoded
and retrieved are different. State dependant forgetting occurs when a person’s mental or
physical state differ between learning and recall.
One advantage of this explanation for forgetting is there is lots of research support, for example
Godden and Baddeley asked participants to learn information underwater and then recall is
underwater, or to learn information above land and recall is above land or learn information
underwater and recall on land and vice versa. They found recall was 40% lower in the non-
matching conditions, concluding that the external cues available at learning were different to
ones at recall it would lead to retrieval failure. Another advantage is real world application, the
retrieval theory may help students who are studying for exams so they remain in the same
mental state when revising and during their exams for example if at home they are calm they
can take deep breaths in the exam room to keep them calm in the exam so they can accurately
recall the information they learnt at home in the exam hall. This shows us how research can
remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve recall.
Lastly a disadvantage is that context effects may depend substantially on the type of memory
being tested. Godden and Baddeley replicated their underwater study but used a recognition
test instead of recall. Participants had to say whether they recognised a word read to them
instead of retrieving it. When recognition was tested there was no context dependent effect,
performance was the same in all 4 conditions. This suggests retrieval failure is a limited
explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person has to recall information rather
than recognise it.
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