I don’t know give us a clue??

Either

• The information is not available as we have The information is not available as we have failed to store it …….. Why might this happen?failed to store it …….. Why might this happen?

or• It has decayed from our memory

or• It is stored somewhere but we

cannot find it

Cue-dependent forgetting

Our main theory of forgetting is known as cue-dependent theory. This theory suggests forgetting is simply an accessibility problem.

In other words it is stored somewhere stored somewhere but we cannot find it!

The cue-dependent theory of forgetting (Tulving 1975)

The theory states that forgetting occurs if the right cues are not available for memory

retrieval• Tulving claims that there are two events necessary

for recall:• A memory trace – information which is laid down

and retained in a store as a result of the original perception of an event

• A retrieval cue – information present in the individual’s cognitive environment at the time of retrieval that matches the environment at the time of encoding

Thinking like a psychologist

Talk to the person behind or in front of you

Between you can you come up with a way of finding out if a memory is actually stored even though the person

does not know that they have that

memory?

Cue Dependency

Experiment

Tulving came Tulving came up with a up with a simple but simple but brilliant ideabrilliant idea

Ethics...• This is a mini experiment to look at the effects

of cue-dependency in memory retrieval• You have the right to withdraw at any time • You will not be harmed during this experiment• Put your hands up if you consent to take

part...• Have I forgotton anything?

Instructions

• You will see a number of Countries• Please write down the capital city for each

country• Do NOT confer• You MUST conduct this experiment in

silence• Ready? Then we’ll begin

Germany

Australia

USA

Spain

Netherlands

Greece

China

Japan

Portugal

Cues help

• Give us a clue….what does it begin with?

Instructions

• You will now see the same list of countries but the first letter of each capital city will be given to you as a prompt.

• Have another look and see if you can get any more answers.

• Make sure you note which ones you were able to get when you had the prompt

Germany - B

Australia - C

USA - W

Spain - M

Netherlands - A

Greece - A

China - B

Japan - T

Portugal - L

Now check your answers...

• Germany – Berlin• Australia - Canberra• USA – Washington DC• Spain – Madrid• Netherlands – Amsterdam• Greece – Athens• China – Beijing• Japan – Tokyo• Portugal - Lisbon

Quick test

• What type of research method did Tulving and Pearlstone use?

a.Field Experiment

b.Lab Experiment

c.Natural/Quasi Experiment

d.Questionnaire

Answer

• Can you name two problems with using the experimental method?

Possible Answers...

• It is an artificial situation – people don’t usually have to recall things under lab conditions – therefore low in ecological ecological validityvalidity

• There are more risk of demand demand characteristics characteristics – ppts trying to work out the purpose of the experiment and changing the way they behave

Even with tight control

• There may still be some extraneous variables over which the experimenter has no control such as whether a pp has drunk caffeine prior to the experiment which might affect their recall.

They could be drunk/hungover/sick

• This are called ppt variablesppt variables

Situational variables can be controlled though!

• List as many situational variables situational variables as you can. These are the things you would try to keep the same for all ppts

Practical Applications

• How could you use this theory to help patients with dementia?

• How could you use this theory to help eyewitnesses recall events?

Classic Experiment

Tulving & Pearlstone Tulving & Pearlstone (1966)

When I say ‘turn over’, please turn over the sheet and try to memorise the words on the word list. You have only one

minute to do this

How many words did you recall?

• Swap your sheet with your neighbour for marking

There were 24 words in totalThere were 24 words in total

FruitFruit VegetablesVegetables TreesTrees FlowersFlowers

BananaBanana CarrotsCarrots OakOak LilyLily

AppleApple LeeksLeeks BeechBeech TulipTulip

OrangeOrange PotatoesPotatoes ChestnutChestnut RoseRose

GrapeGrape AuberginesAubergines BirchBirch DaffodilDaffodil

MelonMelon TurnipTurnip PalmPalm BluebellBluebell

I used independent measures

Can you:

Identify the IV

Identify the DV

Write a one tailed hypothesis

Identify one weakness with the

experimental design

Tulving & Pearlstone Tulving & Pearlstone (1966)

• Pps were read lists of words that fell into categories e.g. types of dog, flowers,colours

• In condition one pps recalled the words without cues (free recall)

• In condition two they were given category titles as cues (cued recall)

Results

In the cued recall condition, pps recalled more words

Category titles are a form of ‘semantic cue’

This demonstrates that if we have

access to the category words

we recall more words!

From his research

• Tulving went onto develop a theory based on the

encoding specificity principle encoding specificity principle

Which states thatWhich states that

“the greater the similarity between the encoding event and the retrieval

event, the greater the likelihood of recalling the memory”

HW assignment

prepare a presentation for your first lesson next week

You will be teaching the rest of the class

describe and evaluate one describe and evaluate one

other theory of forgettingother theory of forgetting