The Multi-store Model Of Memory Flashcards
The multi-store model
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrins (1969,1971) multi-store model (MSM) describes how information flows through the memory system. The model suggests that memory is made up of three stores linked by processing.
Sensory register
All stimuli from the environment (eg sound of someone talking) pass into the sensory register (SR). This part of memory comprises several registers (sensory memory stores), one for each of our five senses. Coding in each store is modality-specific (ie depends on the senses). For example, the store coding for visual information is iconic memory and the store coding acoustically (ie for sound) is echoing memory. There are other sensory stores for touch, taste and smell information.
Duration of material in the SRs is very brief-less than half a second. The SRs have a very high capacity, for example over one hundred million cells in one eye, each storing data. Information passed further into the memory system only if you pay attention to it. (So attention is the key process).
Short-term memory
Information in short-term memory (STM) is coded mainly acoustically and lasts about 18 seconds unless it is rehearsed, so STM is more of a temporary store. STM is a limited-capacity store, because it can only contain a certain number of ‘things’ before forgetting occurs.
Maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat (rehearse) material to ourselves over and over again. We can keep the information in our STMs as long as we rehearse it. If we rehearse it long enough, it passes into long-term memory.
Long- term memory
This is the potentially permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time. We have already seen that LTMs are coded mostly systematically (ie in terms of meaning). Psychologists belief that its duration may be up to a lifetime. For example Bahrick et al found that many of their participants were able to recognise the names and faces of their school classmates almost 50 years after graduating. The capacity of LTM is thought to be practically unlimited.
According to MSM, when we are want to recall information from LTM, it has to be transferred back into STM by a process called retrieval.
Strength-MSM-research support
Support from studies showing that STM and LTM are different. For example Alan Baddely found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using out STMs. But we mix up words that have similar meanings when we use out 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
Counterpoint-despite such apparent support, in everyday life we form memories related to all sorts of useful things-peoples faces, their names, facts, places etc. but many of the studies that support the MSM used none of these materials. Instead, they used digits, letters (Jacob’s) and sometimes words (Baddeley). They even used what are known as constant syllables that have no meaning (Peterson and Peterson).
This means that MSM may not be a valid model of how memory works in our everyday lives where we have to remember much more meaningful information.
Limitation-MSM- more than one STM store
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. KFs 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 other) showed that there could even be another short -term store for non-verbal sounds. (Eg noises)
This evidence suggests that the MSM is wrong in claiming that there is just one STM store processing different types of information ( eg visual, auditory etc)
Limitation-MSM- elaborating rehearsal
Prolonged research 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 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 doesn’t fully explain how long-term storage is achieved.
