About: Cue-dependent forgetting

Cue-dependent forgetting, or retrieval failure, is the failure to recall information without memory cues. The term either pertains to semantic cues, state-dependent cues or context-dependent cues. Upon performing a search for files in a computer, its memory is scanned for words. Relevant files containing this word or string of words are displayed. This is not how memory in the human mind works. Instead, information stored in the memory is retrieved by way of association with other memories. Some memories can not be recalled by simply thinking about them. Rather, one must think about something associated with it.