multistore model of memory Flashcards
encoding
the process of transforming information to put it into memory
storage
process of maintaining information in our minds
retrieval
process of reassessing memory out of our storage
multistore model of memory
Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed cognitive theoretical model showing how memory flows between different stores in our minds
sensory register
coding - sensory
capacity - large
duration - 1-2 seconds
receives information from our senses and passes it to STM when we pay attention to it
short term memory
coding - acoustic
capacity - 7 +-2
duration - 18-30 seconds
short term memory holds information and transfers it to LTM after rehearsal, if not rehearsed this information can be forgotten
long term memory
coding - semantic
capacity - unlimited
duration - lifetime
receives information from STM, can transfer memory back through retrieval
sperling - duration/capacity of sensory register
study into capacity/duration of sensory memory
lab experiment
flashed 4x3 grid of letters on screen, p asked to recall letters from grid
condition 1 - p recall as many letters as possible
condition 2 - p recall from just one row but uncertain of what row before showed
= con 1 - p could recall 4-5 letters
con 2 - p could recall only 3 letters
= recollection was good for con 2 as p unaware of what row they had to recall
= sensory register has large capacity
= sensory register has short duration
Jacobs - capacity of STM
showed p random letters and asked to repeat back, increased lengths to determine capacity
= p could recall 7 on average
= capacity of STM is 7 +-2
provides evidence that capacity of STM is limited
Peterson and Peterson - duration of STM
lab experiment
gave p nonsense trigrams made to repeat after 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 seconds
to prevent rehearsal p asked to countdown in 3s from specific number - ensures internal validity
= 80% of recall accurate after 3 seconds, only 10% accurate after 18 seconds
Peterson and Peterson evaluation
- very standardised procedure, high control of variables, lab experiment, findings very objective, research replicable, reliable, scientific
- low ecological validity, lab experiment, not representative of real life setting, trigrams not representative of what people memorise in real life
bahrick - duration of LTM
p had to match names from school to photos after 15 years, after 45 years
= after 15 years, 60% recall accuracy, 90% accuracy in photos
= after 45 years, recall dropped to 30%, recognition dropped to 80%
bahrick evaluation
- high ecological validity, p were asked to recall memories about their own lives, representative of real life, credible
- does not control extraneous variables, doesn’t consider how much p liked old classmates which may have interfered with memory accuracy
baddeley - coding
asked p to memorise a list of words
STM - asked to recall after given list
LTM - asked to recall after 20 minutes
divided p into 4 groups
condition 1 - words that sounded familiar
condition 2 - words that did not sound similar
condition 3 - words with similar meanings
condition 4 - words with dissimilar meanings
= group 1 recalled fewest words in correct order
= group 2 recalled most words in correct order
= ACOUSTIC CODE FOR STM
= group 3 recalled fewest words in correct order
= group 4 recalled most words in correct order
= SEMANTIC CODE FOR LTM
ao3 case study support
patient HM had part of hippocampus removed, could remember information while processing it but forgot it after an amount of time
= damage to LTM but not to STM, supports idea that we have multiple memory stores
