multi-store model of memory

Question 1

what is the multi store model of memory?

Answer 1

stimulus from the environment ➡️ sensory register (iconic) retrieval
(echoic) ➡️ short term memory store ⬅️ long term
(other sensory stores) ⬇️ ➡️ memory store
response prolonged rehearsal
↖️
maintenance rehearsal
(rehearsal loop)

Question 2

what is the sensory register?

Answer 2

the sensory register is where stimuli from the environment will pass through as well as lots of other sights, sounds, smells etc..
this part of the memory is not one store but several, one for each of our 5 senses

Question 3

what are the two main stores in the sensory register?

Answer 3

• iconic memory (visual information is coded visually)
• echoic memory (sound, or auditory information is coded acoustically)

Question 4

how long will material last in the sensory registers?

Answer 4

material only lasts very briefly, the duration is less than half a second

Question 5

what is the capacity of the sensory register?

Answer 5

it has a very high capacity
e.g. over 100 million cells are in one eye, each collecting data

Question 6

how much information in the sensory register will be passed further into the memory?

Answer 6

very little of what goes into the sensory register passes further into the memory system
BUT, it will if you pay attention to it

Question 7

what is the short term memory?

Answer 7

it is a limited capacity store because it can only contain a certain number of ‘things’ before forgetting it takes place.

Question 8

what is the capacity of the short term memory?

Answer 8

it is on average between 5-9 pieces of information (7+/-2), though research suggests its more likely to be 5 rather than 9)

Question 9

how is information in the short term memory coded?

Answer 9

it is coded acoustically and lasts about 30 seconds unless its rehearsed.

Question 10

what is maintenance rehearsal?

Answer 10

this occurs when we repeat material to ourselves over and over again. we can keep information in our STM as long as we rehearse it, if we rehearse it long enough, it passes into our LTM

Question 11

what is the long term memory?

Answer 11

this is the potentially permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time

Question 12

what is the capacity of the LTM?

Answer 12

its capacity is thought to be unlimited and can last many years (e.g. Bahrick et al. 1975 found that many of his participants were able to recognise names and faces of classmates almost 50 years after graduating)

Question 13

how is the LTM coded?

Answer 13

it is coded semantically

Question 14

what is retrieval?

Answer 14

when we want to recall information from the LTM, it has to be transferred back into the STM by a process called retrieval. according to the MSM, this is true of all our memories. none of them are recalled directly from the LTM.

Question 15

what is the case study of HM that supports the multi-store model?

Answer 15

HM underwent brain surgery to relieve his epilepsy. unfortunately a part of his brain known as the hippocampus was removed from both sides of his brain (this procedure wasn’t fully understood). we now know this to be the central memory function. when his memory was assessed in 1955, he thought the year was 1953, and that he was 27 years old (he was 31). he had very little recall of the operation and he could not remember speaking with someone just an hour earlier. his LTM was tested over and over again but never improved even with practice. he would read the same magazine repeatedly without remembering it. he couldn’t recall what he had eaten earlier the same day. however, despite all this, he performed well on tests of immediate memory span, a measure of the STM

Question 16

AO3: how is ‘biological evidence’ a strength to the multi-store model of memory?

Answer 16

research from brain scanning techniques has supported the multi-store memory model and the idea of seperate memory stores (i.e. a short term memory store and a long term memory store). Squire et al used brain-scanning techniques and found that STM can be associated with activity in the prefrontal cortex and that the LTM can be associated with activity in the hippocampus. this is a strength because it provides biological evidence that the different types of memory are processed by different parts of the brain, and that the memory stores are distinct as the multi-store model suggests

Question 17

AO3: how is ‘supporting evidence’ a strength to the multi-store model of memory?

Answer 17

case studies of brain damaged patients (e.g. KF) have also offered support for the multi-store model of memory. Shallice and Warrington (1970), reported that the case of KF, who was brain damaged as a result of a motorcycle accident. his STM was severely impaired, however his LTM remained intact. this supports the view that STM and LTM are seperate and distinct stores and therefore supports the proposals of the MSM, as it shows that its possible to damage only one store of memory.

Question 18

AO3: how is ‘conflicting evidence’ a limitation to the multi-store model of memory?

Answer 18

case studies of brain damaged patients criticise the MSM. the case of KF demonstrated that his deficit in STM was for verbal information and that the STM for visual material was normal. this is a weakness because it demonstrated that it is possible to damage only part of the STM, going against the MSM idea that the STM is unitary. this therefore suggests that there may be more than one type of STM.

Question 19

AO3: how is ‘too much emphasis on rehearsal’ a limitation to the multi-storied model of memory?

Answer 19

there is too much emphasis on rehearsal: the MSM suggested that rehearsal is the only method of transferring information from the STM to the LTM- the model lacks face validity as it is clear we do not always have to rehearse things in order to remember them.