Memory: The multi-store model of memory Flashcards
Who created the Multi-Store Model of Memory (MSM) ?
Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)
What are the 3 MSM stores?
- Sensory Register
- Short Term Memory (STM)
- Long Term Memory (LTM)
What features are there to know about in the MSM stores?
- Coding
- Capacity
- Duration
What is coding?
The type of information which is stored in each memory store
What is capacity?
How much information can be held in a memory store
What is duration?
How long information can be held in a memory store
What happens in the sensory register?
- Sensory information coming from senses is detected and recorded automatically
- Information is passed onto the STM by paying attention
What is the coding of the sensory register?
Store depends on the sense organ that the information come from (modality specific)
What is the capacity of the sensory register?
Very large
What is the capacity of the sensory register?
Very short- 250 milliseconds
What is short term memory (STM)?
Memory that receives information from the sensory register by paying attention
What is the coding of STM?
Acoustic (sounds)
What is the duration of STM?
Small, Miller suggested you can only remember 7 items + 2 items or - 2 items
What technique can be used to improve the duration of STM?
‘Chunking’ - making groups of items, which reduces the number of items
What is the duration of STM?
Short, 18- 30 seconds ( The duration of information can be extended by verbal rehearsal)
What long term memory (LTM)?
Memory that can store information permanently
What is the coding for LTM?
Semantic (meaning)
What is the capacity for LTM?
Unlimited capacity , information can be lost
What is the duration of LTM?
Unlimited
What is AO3 research evidence that the STM and LTM are seperate processes?
Glanzer & Cunitz (1966):
1. Asked participants to free recall word list s(any order)
2. Recall is much stronger for words at the start and end of word lists
3. Results suggest there are seperate STM and LTM memory stores with the words first heard entering LTM and being recalled( primacy effect) and the words most recent words being held in STM and being recalled ( regency effect)
the middle words were in the STM but were displaced by later words
What is AO3 research evidence for the sensory register?
Sperling (1960):
1. Trained participants were presented with a three by four grid of letters
2. When presented quickly (1/20th of a second) then had to recall one row.
3. It was found a recall for one row was 75%
4. This suggests that all the rows were contained within the capacity of the iconic (visual) store, so sensory memory is large
What is AO3 research evidence for the coding of STM?
Baddeley (1966):
1. Gave four 10 word lists to four participant groups
2. List A: Acoustically similar- words sound the same
List B: Acoustically dissimilar- words sound different
List C: Semantically similar- words have related meaning
List D: Semantically different- words have unrelated meaning
3. It was found that immediate recall was the worst for List A and recall after 20 minutes was the worst for List D
4. This suggests that the coding for STM is acoustic as recalling list A was the most difficult because recalling similar words caused confusion in recall
What is AO3 research evidence for the capacity of STM?
Jacobs(1887):
1. Participants were presented with lists of letters or numbers
2. Participants then had to recall the list
3. It was found that the capacity for letters was on was around 7 items for letters and 9 for numbers
3. This suggests that the capacity for STM is very limited
4. Miller suggested that chunking can be used to reduce the number of items overall
What is AO3 research evidence for the duration of STM?
Peterson & Peterson(1959):
1. Showed participants 3 letter trigrams (e.g. HDF)
2. Participants had to count backwards for a few seconds to stop maintenance rehearsal( interference task)
3. It was found after 18 seconds recall was less than 10%
4. This suggests unless maintained information is held in STM for only a few seconds( 18-30 seconds) before it disappears
What is AO3 research evidence for the coding of LTM?
Baddeley (1966):
1. Gave four 10 word lists to four participant groups
2. List A: Acoustically similar- words sound the same
List B: Acoustically dissimilar- words sound different
List C: Semantically similar- words have related meaning
List D: Semantically different- words have unrelated meaning
3. It was found that immediate recall was the worst for List A and recall after 20 minutes was the worst for List D
4. This suggests that the coding for LTM is semantic as recalling list C was the most difficult because recalling similar meanings caused confusion in recall
What is AO3 research evidence for the capacity of LTM?
Wagenaar(1986):
1. Created a diary of over 2400 weeks during 6 years including recording who, when, what and where.
2. It was found when tested these cues he had a 75% recall of one specific important detail after 1 year and 45% after 5 years
3. His sense of remembering the event ( retention judgement) was 80% after 5 years
4. This suggest the capacity of the LTM is very large and potentially limitless
What is AO3 research evidence for the duration of LTM?
Bahrick(1975):
1. 392 participants aged 17-74 were tested for memory of old photographs and names of their school friends.
2. It was found recall in matching name to face was 90% after 15 years and 80% for names after 48 years.
3. This suggests a duration of LTM is very large and potentially limitless
