I don’t know give us a clue??

1. Why do we forget? I don’t know give us a clue??

2. Either • The information is not available as we have 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

3. 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 but we cannot find it! The cue-dependent theory of forgetting (Tulving 1975)

4. 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

5. 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?

6. Tulving came up with a simple but brilliant idea Cue Dependency Experiment

7. 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?

8. 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

9. Germany

10. Australia

11. USA

12. Spain

13. Netherlands

14. Greece

15. China

16. Japan

17. Portugal

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

19. 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

20. Germany - B

21. Australia - C

22. USA - W

23. Spain - M

24. Netherlands - A

25. Greece - A

26. China - B

27. Japan - T

28. Portugal - L

29. Now check your answers... • Germany – Berlin • Australia - Canberra • USA – Washington DC • Spain – Madrid • Netherlands – Amsterdam • Greece – Athens • China – Beijing • Japan – Tokyo • Portugal - Lisbon

30. Quick test • What type of research method did Tulving and Pearlstone use? • Field Experiment • Lab Experiment • Natural/Quasi Experiment • Questionnaire

31. Answer Lab Experiment

32. Can you name two problems with using the experimental method?

33. Possible Answers... • It is an artificial situation – people don’t usually have to recall things under lab conditions – therefore low in ecological validity • There are more risk of demand characteristics – ppts trying to work out the purpose of the experiment and changing the way they behave

34. 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 variables

35. Situational variables can be controlled though! • List as many situational variables as you can. These are the things you would try to keep the same for all ppts

36. Practical Applications • How could you use this theory to help patients with dementia? • How could you use this theory to help eyewitnesses recall events?

37. Classic Experiment 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 

38. How many words did you recall? • Swap your sheet with your neighbour for marking

39. There were 24 words in total

40. I used independent measures Can you: Identify the IV Identify the DV Write a one tailed hypothesis Identify one weakness with the experimental design

41. 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)

42. 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!

43. From his research • Tulvingwent onto develop a theory based on the encoding specificity principle Which states that “the greater the similarity between the encoding event and the retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of recalling the memory”

44. HW assignment prepare a presentation for your first lesson next week You will be teaching the rest of the class describe and evaluate one other theory of forgetting