Retrieval Failure: Cue & State Dependent (OCR A-Level Psychology): Revision Notes

2.3.2 Retrieval Failure: Cue & State Dependent

Cue-dependent forgetting

Tulving - there is no appropriate cue to activate the trace

Tip of the tongue - know the word but can't recall it. Unable to retrieve the memory

Encoding specificity principle - the greater the similarity to where you learnt info and where you retrieved it the more likely you are to remember it

State-dependent forgetting

Forgetting occurs because the emotional or physical state at recall is different to that of the time of learning.