Has the smell of a certain place or food brought back memories? What would happen to your memory if you never experienced that smell again? The idea of context-dependent memory says that you may never ever remember that memory again without the right cue from your environment to help your brain retrieve it from long-term storage.
- First, we will look at context-dependent memory in psychology.
- We will also define environmental context-dependent memory.
- Next, we will look at a summary of the Grant Study on context-dependent memory.
- Moving on, we will look at examples of context-dependent memory.
- Finally, we will compare context-dependent and state-dependent memory.
We’ve all had moments when the memory of a specific experience comes rushing back. We are going along when suddenly a song brings us back to a particular moment. We can think of context-dependent memories as photographs or old storage boxes. You must see certain things or be in a particular place to access those memories.
There are different explanations for why we forget things and what affects our memory and recall. One answer is called retrieval failure.
Retrieval failure is when the memory is available to us, but the necessary cues to access and recall the memory are not provided, so retrieval doesn’t occur.
Two examples of retrieval failure based on non-meaningful cues are state-dependent and context-dependent.
Context-Dependent Memory: Psychology
Context-dependent memory relies on specific cues present in a person's experience.
Context-dependent memory is when memory recall is dependent on external cues, e.g., place, weather, environment, smell, etc., and increases when those cues are present or decreases when they’re absent.
Environmental Context-Dependent Memory
The study of Godden and Baddeley (1975) explored the concept of cue-dependent forgetting. They tested memory by seeing whether participants’ recall was better if they learned and were tested in the same context/environment. Participants learned on land or in the sea and were tested on land or in the sea. Researchers found that participants who learned and were tested in the same environment had a better recall because the cues presented aided the retrieval process and improved their memory.
Fig. 1 - Landscape photo of a forest and the sea.
You can apply this to remembering material for your exam! Try studying in the same place every day. This will increase your memory recall. If you can, go and study in the same room where you are going to take the test!
Context-Dependent Memory: Example
You have likely had loads of context-dependent memories triggered throughout your life. They can be straightforward but carry compelling memory experiences.
You get a tube of coconut lip balm for your birthday, and you crack it open to try it out. One whiff of the coconut transports you back to the summer you spent at the beach a few years ago. You used coconut sunscreen the whole trip. You can see yourself walking over the boardwalk onto the sand. You even recall how the wind felt hot on your skin in the sun.
Context-dependent triggers can evoke memories we might not have revisited for quite some time.
You’re driving to work, and a particular pop song comes on the radio. You listened to this song all the time when you were at university ten years ago. You are suddenly lost in a flood of memories about your student days. You can see your campus, the specific setup of the computer lab, and even your apartment at the time.
Some studies have explored context-dependent memory in detail. Based on the theory that was derived from Godden and Baddeley’s (1975) study, Grant et al. (1998) further researched the matter of context-dependent memory. They wanted to demonstrate the positive effects of context on memory.
Grant Study Summary
The following summarizes Grant et al.'s (1998) context-dependent memory experiment. Grant et al. (1998) conducted a laboratory experiment with an independent measures design.
| Parts of the Study | | | |
| Independent Variables | Reading condition – silent or noisy. | Testing condition – silent or noisy. | |
| Dependent Variables | Reading time (which was a control). | Short answer test results. | Multiple choice test results. |
| Participants | 39 participants | Gender: 17 females, 23 males | Age: 17–56 years (mean = 23.4 years) |
The study used headphones and cassette players with a soundtrack of background noise from a cafeteria, a two-page article on psycho-immunology that participants had to study and later recall, 16 multiple-choice questions, and ten short answer questions participants were to answer. Each participant was assigned to only one of the following four conditions:
- Silent learning – Silent testing.
- Noisy learning – Noisy testing.
- Silent learning – Noisy testing.
- Noisy learning – Silent testing.
They read the instructions of the study, which was posed as a class project with voluntary participation. Participants then read the psycho-immunology article and were informed that a multiple-choice and short-answer test would test them. They all wore headphones as a control measure so that it wouldn’t affect their learning. The researchers told the silent condition ones they’d hear nothing and the noisy condition ones that they’d listen to some background noise but ignore it.
Researchers also measured their reading time as a control so that some participants wouldn’t have a learning advantage over others. Their memory was then tested on the short answer test first, then the multiple-choice test and the data collected on their results was interval data. Lastly, they were debriefed about the true nature of the experiment.
Grant et al. (1998): Study Results
Grant et al. (1998) found that performance was significantly better when the studying and testing environments were the same (i.e., silent study - silent testing or noisy study - noisy testing). This was true for both multiple-choice test questions and short-answer test questions. Thus, memory and recall were better when the context/environment was the same than when it was different.
Learning and being tested in the same context/environment leads to better performance and recall.
Therefore, we see from the results of this study that context-dependent effects exist for meaningful material learned and will help improve memory and recall. We could apply these findings to real-life situations since it would help students better their performance on exams if they learned in the same environment they would be tested in, i.e., silent conditions. Overall, learning in a quiet environment is the most beneficial to remembering information later, regardless of the test.
Grant et al. (1998): Evaluation
Grant et al. (1998) have strengths and weaknesses we must consider for your exam.
| Strengths | |
Internal validity | the design of the laboratory experiment increases internal validity because researchers can replicate the conditions and materials precisely. Also, the control conditions set by the experimenter (everyone wearing headphones and reading time being measured) increase the study’s internal validity. |
Predictive validity | because the findings were significant for a wide range of ages, we can assume researchers will replicate these findings of the effect of context-dependent memory if tested in the future. |
Ethics | this study was highly ethical and didn’t have any ethical issues. The participants obtained full informed consent, and their participation was completely voluntary. They were protected from harm and debriefed upon the study’s completion. |
Weaknesses | |
External Validity | While using the headphones was a good measure to increase internal validity, it could have compromised external validity since headphones are not allowed in actual exams. |
Sample Size | While the results are significant, there were only 39 participants, making it hard to generalise results, so there may not be as much validity as the results suggested. |
Context-Dependent Memory vs State-Dependent Memory
State-dependent memory is the second type of retrieval failure. Like context-dependent memory, state-dependent memory relies on cues.
State-dependent memory is when memory recall is dependent on internal cues, like the state you are in. This type of memory increases when you are in that state again or decreases when you’re in a different state.
Different states can be anything from being drowsy to being drunk.
Carter and Cassaday (1998)
Carter and Cassaday (1998) examined the effects of antihistamine drugs on memory recall. They gave chlorpheniramine to 100 participants, as they have mild sedative effects that make one drowsy. They created an internal state that was different from the normal waking state by doing so.
Antihistamine drugs help treat symptoms associated with allergies, e.g., hay fever, bug bites and conjunctivitis.
Researchers then tested participants’ memory by asking them to learn and recall word lists in a drowsy or normal state. The conditions were:
- Drowsy learning – Drowsy recall.
- Drowsy learning – Normal recall.
- Normal learning – Drowsy recall.
- Normal learning – Normal recall.
Fig. 2 - Photo of a man yawning.
In the drowsy-drowsy and normal-normal situations, participants performed better at the task. Researchers found that participants who learned and recalled in different states (i.e., drowsy-normal or normal-drowsy) had significantly worse performance and recall than those who learned in the same state (e.g., drowsy-drowsy or normal-normal). When they were in the same state in both conditions, the relevant cues were present, helping retrieve and improve recall.
State-dependent and context-dependent memory both rely on cues. However, context-dependent memory relies on external cues, and state-dependent memory relies on internal cues. Both types of recall rely on the circumstances of the initial experience, whether it was the context or the state you were in. In both instances, memory recall was better when the circumstances of experience (or learning) and recall were the same.
Context-Dependent Memory - Key takeaways
- Two examples of retrieval failure are state-dependent memory and context-dependent memory.
- Context-dependent memory is when memory recall is dependent on external cues, e.g. place, weather, environment, smell, etc., and increases when those cues are present or decrease when they’re absent.
- State-dependent memory is when the recall of memory is dependent on internal cues of the state you are in, e.g. being drunk, and increases when you are in that state again or decreases when you’re in a different state.
- Godden and Baddeley (1975) found that participants who learned and were tested in the same place (land or sea) had better recall and memory.
- Researchers found that performance, meaning, memory, and recall were significantly better when studying and testing conditions were the same.
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