Multi Store Model - Glanzer and Cunitz

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

To investigate the serial position effect (tendency to recall first and last items better), to determine the existence of separate memory stores, the STM and the LTM.

Question 2

Method

Answer 2

• sample = 46 army enlisted men
• series of 15-word lists was read out
• After hearing the list, participants were required to do a free-recall task.
• There were three conditions, the first being free-recall immediately after hearing the list. The second and third condition included a filler activity where participants were requried to count backwards for 10 and 30 seconds.

Question 3

Results

Answer 3

• In the condition without a filler task the serial position effect could be observed as participants recalled more items from the beginning and end of the list.
• In the conditions with the filler task, participants remembered items near the start of the list (primary effect) but not the end (recency effect), more so in the 30-second condition than in the 10-second condition

Question 4

Conclusion

Answer 4

This supports the MSM as participants remember the first items of the list as they tend to get rehearsed moving to the LTM which is unaffected by delay.

Words in the middle aren’t remembered well because they are not rehearsed and lost through displacement

Words at the end of the list are remembered in the condition without the filler task as information can be stored in our STM for up to 30 seconds. However, with the filler task, rehearsal is suppressed and not rehearsed which leads to decay.

Therefore this supports the theory that the STM and LTM are two separate memory stores with different durations and capacities.

Question 5

Methodological Considerations

Answer 5

STRENGTHS
Lab Experiment = high internal validity
Able to manipulate independent variable
Able to reduce confounding or extraneous variables that could influence the results
Allows for cause-and-effect inferences
Standardised Procedures
Enhances the reliability and internal validity of the findings
Construct validity

Artificiality = low external ecological validity
Conducted in a lab and doesn’t model a realistic situation and can be hard to generalise to the real world
The study also used artificial stimuli which had no meaning to participants, therefore it might not explain how memory works outside the laboratory
Sample not representative = low external population validity
Sample is not representative as the sample is a group of male army recruits. Therefore it can be hard to generalise findings to the wider population

Question 6

Alternate Explanations

Question 7

Gender

Answer 7

Only males were used for the experiment. The results may not be the same for females.
● Furthermore, the sample consisted of men from the army. Their career may have affected their ability to memorise.

Question 8

Ethics

Question 9

Culture