Multistore memory model Flashcards
Describe & Evaluate the multistore memory model
What is the MSM?
Developed by Atkinson & Shriffin in 1668/1971, the MSM describes how information flows through the three memory stores.
What are the three memory stores?
The sensory register, the short term memory, and the long term memory
Describe the sensory register
Coding, capacity & duration
All stimuli from the environment go into the SR. The coding is modality specific (Ionic for visual information and echoic for sound). The duration is brief & the capacity is high.
Describe the STM
Coding, capacity & duration
Coding - Acoustic
Duration - Around 18s without rehearsal
Capacity - Limited (5-9 items)
If we rehearse the information using maintenance rehearsal it goes into the LTM.
Describe the LTM
Coding, capacity & duration
Coding - Potentially permanent
Capacity - Potentially unlimited
Duration - Up to a lifetime
If we want to recall information, we transfer it to the STM via a process of retrieval.
Evaluate the MSM
Research Support
Strength
P - Research support that the STM & LTM are different.
E - Baddely found that we mix up acoustically similar words when using short term memories. We mix up semantically similar words when using long term memory.
T - Shows they are separate stores.
Counter argument - Despite support, we form memories in real life related to allsorts - names faces, facts. In Baddely & Jacobs’ studies, they used words or digits. They even used consonant syllables that don’t have a meaning (Peterson & Peterson). This means the MSM is not a valid model of how memory works in everyday life.
Evaluate the MSM
More than one store
Limitation
P - Evidence that there may be more than 1 STM Store
E - Shallice & Warrington’s study of KF. He had a low memory of digits heard acoustically and his recall was poor, but when he read the digits his recall was better. Further studies of KF show there may be a STM store for nonverbal sounds.
T - MSM is wrong for claiming there is just one STM store processing all types of information.
Evaluate the MSM
Elaborative rehearsal
Limitation
P - Prolonged rehearsal isn’t needed.
E - According to the MSM, we need to use maintenance or prolonged rehearsal, but Craik & Watkins (1973) found the type of rehearsal is more effective than the amount.
Describe the case of HM
Case study.
HM underwent brain surgery. However the procedure was not fully understood. A part of his brain called the hippocampus was removed from both raised of his brain. We now know this to be central to memory function. When his memory was assessed he thought he was 27 (he was 31) and had little recall of the operation. He could not form long term memories, and could not recall what he had eaten earlier. However he still performed well on immediate memory span tests.
What did Cohen argue?
Memory capacity cannot be measured purely in terms of number of items recalled, and should instead be based on the nature of the information recalled. We know from experience that some things are simply more difficult to learn regardless of the amount there is to learn.
What is the recency effect?
A cognitive bias in which those items, ideas, or arguments that came last are remembered more clearly than those that came first.
What did Morris et al argue?
Found that previous knowledge and interest in football could help in the recall of fictitious football scores. This suggests a two-way flow of information between the STM and LTM, which supports the multi-store model.
