According to the cue dependency theory information in our memory is available but not accessible. People need a suitable retrieval cue in order to trigger the memory. Cue dependancy is divided into two types, I’m studying context dependancy. This works with external cues, the environment in which information is encoded and retrieved affects how good a person’s memory is. A person’s memory is best when they encode and retrieve information in the same environment. Godden and Baddeley’s Diver’s Study (1975)
Godden and Baddeley’s aim was to see if encoding words in an environment and retrieving in the same environment would make a person recall information better than if they retrieved in a different environment to which they encoded in. They gave four groups of divers lists of words, two groups encoded the words on land, the other two encoded underwater. One group who learned on land recalled on land and the other recalled in water. One of the groups who encoded the words underwater recalled underwater too but the other group recalled on land.
They concluded that the place in which you encode information is the place where retrieval is best. This supports the context dependancy theory. Having the same context at retrieval as at encoding acts as a cue for a better recall than without the cue. Smith’s Image Study (1979) Smith’s aim was to see if encoding in an environment then retrieving in a different environment with images of the encoding environment would make the same recall as encoding and retrieving in the same context or would it be just like using different contexts.
He gave participants 80 words to learn in a room, they think the experiment is over. 24hours later in a suprise recall test (no time for rehearsal) he split the participants into 3 groups. One group recalled the words in the same room as encoding. One group recalled them in soundproof booths and the other group recalled in soundproof booths with images of the encoding room around them. Smith could see that the participants could be tricked into thinking the environment at encoding was the same at retrieval by using images of the encoding environment in a different room.
Smith’s study supports and refutes the context dependancy theory. It supports the theory and Godden and Baddeley’s study as those who encoded and recalled in the same environment produced a better recall but refutes both the context dependancy theory and Godden and Baddeley’s study because Smith created a false environment at retrieving that acted as retrieval cue but wasn’t infact the encoding environment.