Retrieval & Forgetting (College Board AP® Psychology): Study Guide

Retrieval processes

• Retrieval is the process of accessing and bringing stored information out of memory so it can be used

• There are two main types of retrieval:

  • Recall: retrieving information without external cues. The information must be reproduced from memory alone

    • E.g. answering a free-response exam question, recalling someone's name without being prompted

  • Recognition: identifying previously encountered information when it is presented. This relies on retrieval cues

    • E.g. answering a multiple-choice question, identifying a face in a crowd

• Recognition is generally easier than recall because the stimulus itself acts as a retrieval cue

• Retrieval cues are stimuli that help trigger the retrieval of a memory

  • The more retrieval cues available, the more likely successful recall becomes

Factors that enhance retrieval

• Retrieval is more successful when the conditions at retrieval match the conditions at encoding:

  • Context-dependent memory: retrieval is enhanced when a person is in the same physical environment as when the information was encoded

    • E.g. students who studied underwater and were tested underwater recalled more than students who studied underwater but were tested on land .The underwater context served as a retrieval cue

• State-dependent memory: retrieval is enhanced when a person is in the same internal physical state (e.g., under the influence of a substance) as when the information was encoded

  • E.g. information memorized while under the influence of alcohol is more easily recalled in the same state. However, this does not mean the memories are accurate

• Mood-congruent memory: people are more likely to recall memories that match their current emotional mood

  • E.g. when feeling happy, positive memories are more readily recalled. When feeling sad, negative memories come to mind more easily

Retrieval practice and metacognition

• Testing effect (retrieval practice effect): the finding that actively retrieving information from memory during study, rather than simply re-reading, significantly improves long-term retention

  • E.g. taking practice tests, using flashcards, and attempting to recall material from memory are more effective revision strategies than passive re-reading

• Metacognition is the awareness and understanding of one's own thinking and memory processes, including the ability to monitor how well you know something and adjust your study strategies accordingly.

  • E.g. realizing that you can recognize a term on a multiple-choice question but cannot recall its definition without prompts is a metacognitive insight that should lead you to use more active retrieval practice

Forgetting

• Forgetting is a normal and inevitable part of memory, which occurs for several reasons

• The forgetting curve, described by Hermann Ebbinghaus, shows that forgetting occurs most rapidly immediately after learning and then levels off over time

  • Most forgetting happens in the first few hours and days after encoding, but after this initial drop, the rate of forgetting slows significantly

    • E.g. you might forget most of the details of a lecture within 24 hours, but what remains after a week tends to be retained for much longer

• The forgetting curve has important implications for study strategies

  • The spacing effect directly addresses the steep initial forgetting by re-encoding information at intervals before it is fully lost

Causes of forgetting

• Encoding failure: information that was never properly encoded in the first place cannot be retrieved, as it was never stored in LTM

  • E.g. you cannot recall the exact design on the back of a coin you have handled thousands of times because you never encoded that detail

• Interference: new or old information competes with and disrupts the retrieval of a target memory. There are two types of interference:

  • Proactive interference: older information interferes with the recall of newer information

    • E.g. if you learned French before Spanish, French vocabulary may interfere when you try to recall Spanish words

  • Retroactive interference: newer information interferes with the recall of older information

    • E.g. studying sociology the evening after studying psychology may interfere with your recall of the psychology material on the next day's test

• Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: a state of inadequate retrieval in which a person is certain they know a piece of information but cannot quite retrieve it. They can often recall partial information such as the first letter or number of syllables

  • E.g. knowing that an actor's name begins with "M" and has three syllables but being unable to fully retrieve it

• Repression: a psychodynamic concept proposing that the mind unconsciously pushes distressing or threatening memories out of conscious awareness to protect the ego from psychological distress

  • Repression is a psychodynamic explanation and is not well supported by experimental evidence. Most memory researchers are skeptical of it as an explanation for forgetting

Constructive memory

• Memory is not a perfect recording of events - it is a constructive process in which memories are actively built and rebuilt during encoding and retrieval, influenced by schemas, suggestions, and imagination

  • This means that what we remember is not always an accurate reflection of what actually happened. Memories can be altered, distorted, or even entirely fabricated without the person being aware

• Memory consolidation is the process by which newly encoded memories are stabilized into long-term storage

  • During consolidation, memories are vulnerable to distortion. New information encountered after the original event can alter them before they are fully consolidated

The misinformation effect

• The misinformation effect occurs when a person's memory of an event is distorted by misleading information encountered after the event

• Research by Elizabeth Loftus demonstrated that asking leading questions after an event can alter participants' memories of what actually happened

• For example:

  • In Loftus' car crash experiment, participants who were asked "How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?" reported higher speed estimates and were more likely to falsely recall broken glass

  • In contrast, participants who were asked "How fast were the cars going when they contacted each other?" reported lower speed estimates and were less likely to report broken glass, even though both groups watched the same footage

• Source amnesia (also called source confusion) occurs when a person remembers information but forgets or misattributes where it came from

  • E.g. a person may remember a fact but incorrectly believe they read it in a reputable newspaper when they actually heard it as a rumor. This can make false information feel credible

• Imagination inflation: repeatedly imagining an event that never occurred can increase a person's confidence that the event actually happened

  • This demonstrates that memories can be created for events that never took place, not just distorted versions of real events