Memory Booklet 1: Models of Memory

Question 1

Who proposed the multistore memory model?

Answer 1

Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968

Question 2

What are the main three features of the multi store model?

Answer 2

Sensory Register - Short Term Memory - Long Term Memory

Question 3

What are the three things you need to know for each store in the MSM?

Answer 3

-Capacity
-Duration
-Coding

Question 4

What passes into the first store of MSM: sensory register?

Answer 4

Environmental stimulus, such as the sound of someone’s name or other sights, smells and tastes (5 senses)

Question 5

What is the coding of the MSM: Sensory Register?

Answer 5

Iconic - Memory of visual stimuli
Echoic - Memory of auditory info

Question 6

What is the duration of the MSM: Sensory Register?

Answer 6

Less than half a second

Question 7

What is the capacity of the MSM : Sensory Register?

Answer 7

Over a million cells in one eye, each storing data

Question 8

How is info passed onto the STM from the sensory register?

Answer 8

Through our attention

Question 9

What research is there on MSM: STM capacity?

Answer 9

Jacobs 1887 - Resarchers read out 4 digits aloud and asked participants to immediately recall these digits in order (serial recall). This was done in an increasing amount of digits, and it was found that the mean span for digits was 9.3 and for letters it was 7.3

Question 10

What is the capacity of the STM in MSM? and what did Miller suggest?

Answer 10

The capacity of the STM is on average between 5 and 9 pieces of information at any one time, Miller spoke of the magice number 7, with either plus or minus two

Question 11

Through which process can the capacity of the STM in MSM be increased?

Answer 11

Chunking

Question 12

What research is there on MSM: STM coding?

Answer 12

Baddeleys (1966)- Baddeleye gave different lists of words to four groups of participants to remember:
-Acoustically similar
-Acoustically dissimilar
-Semantically similar
-Semantically dissimilar
When STM recall was tested, when recalling words straight away: participants remembered fewer of the acoustically similar words

Question 13

According to Baddeleyes 1966, the STM in MSM is encoded through…

Answer 13

Acoustic information

Question 14

What research is there on MSM: STM duration?

Answer 14

Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) - Participants were tested over eight trials, on each trial participants given a trigram to remember and asked to count backwards.
Participants on average were 90% correct after 3 seconds, 20% correct after 9 seconds and only 2% correct after 18 seconds

Question 15

According to Peterson and Petersons (1959) The duration of STM in MSM is…

Answer 15

Up to 18 seconds

Question 16

What process is used to keep information in the STM in MSM?

Answer 16

Maintenance rehearsal

Question 17

What is the capacity of MSM: LTM?

Answer 17

Potentially unlimited capacity

Question 18

What research is there on MSM: LTM duration?

Answer 18

Bahrick (1975) -Bahrick tested 400 people of various ages on their memory of classmates, in a free recall test participants were asked to list the names they could remember of their class.
Within 15 years of graduation, participants were about 90% accurate and after 48 years this declined to about 70% for photo recognition

Question 19

According to Bahrick (1975) the duration of LTM is…

Answer 19

up to a life time, therefore potentially unlimited

Question 20

What research is there on MSM: LTM Coding?

Answer 20

Baddeleys 1966 - Different lists of words to remember, same as other study
But when LTM recall was tested, recalling words after 20 minutes, participants remembered fewer of the semantically similar words

Question 21

According to Baddeleys 1966 information is coded in the MSM: LTM…

Answer 21

Semantically

Question 22

What are the strengths of the Multi-Store Model? (IEC’s)

Answer 22

-There is evidence to support from case studies of brain damage (HM)
…There are literally no other strengths

Question 23

What are the weaknesses of the Multi-Store Model? (IEC’s)

Answer 23

-The Multi-Store model is too simple
-LTM involves more than maintenance rehearsal
-Evidence to contradict (Clive Wearing)
-Evidence to contradict (KF)

Question 24

What happened in the case of KF?

Answer 24

His short term memory for verbal information was much worse than that of visual information. He had difficulty with sounds but not letters or digits

Question 25

What happened in the case of HM?

Answer 25

Suffered severe epilepsy, at age of 27 underwent major surgery to relieve epileptic fits. Temporal lobes on both sides of his brains were removed. Since surgery was unable to form new LT memories, STM was relatively normal but couldn’t extend his STM and wasn’t able to transfer to the LTM.

Question 26

What two evaluations can be used for MSM if you are asked to evaluate the studies used?

Answer 26

-Research into capacity, duration and coding of each store is artificial
-Participants may have been influenced by demand characteristics

Question 27

What is the Working Memory Model?

Answer 27

A model of short term memory to refer to parts of your memory that you use when you are working on a complex task, which requires you to store info as you are going along

Question 28

Who proposed the Working Memory Model?

Answer 28

Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

Question 29

Why do Baddeley and Hitch suggest that STM is not just one store but a number of different stores? (as opposed to MSM)

Answer 29

-Because if you do two things at the same time and they are both visual tasks, you perform them less well than if you perform them separately
-If you do things at the same time and one is visual, whereas the other is sound, then there is no interference. You do them just as well as you would if they were separate tasks.

Question 30

What does the Working Memory Model itself look like? (The diagram)

Answer 30

Input - Central executive = Phonological Loop / Visuo-Spatial sketchpad + Episodic buffer - LTM

Question 31

What is the function, coding and capacity of the central executive?

Answer 31

Function - Delegate information, determines what is attended to and directs info to other slave systems
Coding - Processes info in all sensory forms
Capacity - Can only cope well with one strand of info at one time

Question 32

What is the function, coding and capacity of the Phonological Loop (Slave system)?

Answer 32

Function - An acoustic store that deals with auditory info and order of info
Coding:
Phonological store- “Inner ear” stores words that have been heard
Articulatory process- “Inner voice” stores words that have been heard or seen. Words will be slightly repeated to keep in memory whilst needed
Capacity - Limited, it is determined by amount of info spoken out loud in two seconds

Question 33

What is the function, coding and capacity of the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (Slave system)?

Answer 33

Function - Temporary store for visual and spatial items + relationships between them
Coding:
Visual cache - Stores info about form, shapes and colour
Inner scribe - Handles spatial relationships and transfers info from visual cache to central executive
Capacity - Limited, three or four objects

Question 34

What is the function, coding and capacity of the episodic buffer?

Answer 34

Function - Temporary store for info, integrating visual, spatial and verbal info. Maintains a sense of time sequencing events that are happening. Can be seen as the storage component of the central executive and links STM to LTM
Coding - Both auditory and visual
Capacity - Limited, about four chunks of info

Question 35

What are the strengths of the Working Memory Model?

Answer 35

-There is evidence to support the WMM from case study - KF
-There is supporting experimental evidence for the working memory model (Baddeley et al 1975a)
-There is further supporting experimental evidence for the working memory model (Baddeleye et al 1975b)
-Evidence to support the idea of central executive (Braver 1997)

Question 36

What is the weakness of the Working Memory Model?

Answer 36

-The idea of central executive is abstract and over simplified

Question 37

What are the three LTM memory stores and who proposed them?

Answer 37

Proposed by Tulving 1985:
-Episodic memory
-Semantic memory
-Procedural memory

Question 38

What is episodic memory? (AO1)

Answer 38

Our ability to recall personal events from our lives, likened to a diary. These memories are time stamped and include several elements:
-Specific details of event
-Context of the event
-Associated emotions
You have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories

Question 39

What is Semantic Memory? (AO1)

Answer 39

Our knowledge of the world which is shared by everyone. Likened to a combination of an encyclopaedia and a dictionary. These are not time stamped and is a vast collection constantly being expanded.

Question 40

What is procedural memory? (AO1)

Answer 40

Our memory for skills, actions - knowing how to do things without conscious awareness. These often become automatic and are difficult to describe. These are not time stamped.

Question 41

What are the strengths of Proposed Types of Long Term Memory?

Answer 41

-Evidence of Tulvings view that there are different memory stores in the LTM is supported by case study HM
-Evidence from brain scans to support Tulvings view that theres different memory stores in the LTM (Tulving et al 1994)
-There are real life applications of research into different types of LTM (Belleville et al 2006)

Question 42

What are the weaknesses of Proposed types of long term memory?

Answer 42

-There is evidence to suggest that LTM is two stores not three (Cohen and Squire 1980)
-There are problems using case studies of individuals with brain injuries (HM and Clive Wearing)