Multi-store model Flashcards
Who proposed the Multi-Store Model (MSM) of memory?
Richard Atkinson & Richard Shiffrin (1968, 1971).
What are the three memory stores in the Multi-Store Model (MSM)?
- Sensory Register (SR)
- Short-Term Memory (STM)
- Long-Term Memory (LTM)
What is the function of the sensory register (SR)?
It briefly stores sensory information from the environment, with separate registers for each sense (e.g., iconic memory for vision, echoic memory for sound).
How long does information last in the sensory register (SR)?
Less than half a second unless attention is given to it.
What is the key process for transferring information from SR to STM?
Attention – only information we focus on moves to STM.
How is information coded in short-term memory (STM)?
Mainly acoustically (by sound).
What is the capacity and duration of STM?
• Capacity: 7 ± 2 items (Miller, 1956) or around 5 items (Cowan, 2001).
• Duration: About 18 seconds unless rehearsed.
What process keeps information in STM longer?
Maintenance rehearsal – repeating the information over and over.
How is information transferred from STM to LTM?
Prolonged rehearsal (long-term repetition of information).
How is information coded in long-term memory (LTM)?
Mostly semantically (by meaning).
What is the capacity and duration of LTM?
• Capacity: Unlimited.
• Duration: Potentially a lifetime (e.g., Bahrick et al., 1975).
How do we get information from LTM?
Through retrieval, where information is transferred back to STM for recall.
strength of MSM
One strength of the MSM is support from studies showing that STM and LTM are different.
For example, Alan Baddeley (1966, see previous spread) found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using our STMs. But we mix up words that have similar meanings when we use our LTMs. Further support comes from the studies of capacity and duration we encountered in the previous spread.
These studies clearly show that STM and LTM are separate and independent memory stores, as claimed by the MSM.
limitation (1) of MSM
One limitation of the MSM is evidence of more than one STM store.
Tim Shallice and Elizabeth Warrington (1970) studied a client they referred to as KF who had a clinical memory disorder called amnesia.
KF’s STM for digits was very poor when they were read out loud to him. But his recall was much better when he read the digits to himself. Further studies of KF (and others) showed that there could even be another short-term store for non-verbal sounds (e.g. noises).
This evidence suggests that the MSM is wrong in claiming that there is just one STM store processing different types of information (e.g. visual, auditory, etc.).
limitation (2) of MSM
Another limitation of the MSM is that prolonged rehearsal is not needed for transfer to LTM.
According to the MSM, what matters about rehearsal is the amount of it - the more you rehearse something, the more likely it is to transfer to LTM. This is prolonged rehearsal. But Fergus Craik and Michael Watkins (1973) found that the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount. Elaborative rehearsal is needed for long-term storage.
This occurs when you link the information to your existing knowledge, or you think about what it means. This means that information can be transferred to LTM without prolonged rehearsal.
This suggests that the MSM does not fully explain how long-term storage is achieved.
