the multi-store model of memory

Question 1

who proposed the msm?

Answer 1

Atkinson and Shiffrin

Question 2

what does the msm consist of?

Answer 2

3 stores:
- sensory register
- STM
- LTM

Question 3

how does information pass from store to store?

Answer 3

in a linear way

Question 4

what are the 3 features that each store has?

Answer 4

• coding
• capacity
• duration

Question 5

what is coding?

Answer 5

the way info is changed, so it can be stored in memory.
3 ways
- visually (picture)
- acoustically (sound)
- semantic (meaning)

Question 6

what is capacity?

Answer 6

concerns how much info can be stored in each system

Question 7

what is duration?

Answer 7

refers to the period of time info can last in each memory store

Question 8

what is the sensory register?

Answer 8

• receives information from the 5 senses (sound, light, smell, touch, taste)
• information will only pass from the sensory register to the STM store if we pay attention to it

Question 9

what are the features of the sensory register?

Answer 9

• duration: 1/4 to 1/2 second
• capacity: large
• encoding: sense specific (different stores for each sense)

Question 10

what is the STM?

Answer 10

• maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat the new information to ourselves, allowing the information to be kept in the STM.
• prolonged maintenance rehearsal allows the information to pass into the LTM
• a lack of such rehearsal causes forgetting and info is lost from STM through displacement or decay

Question 11

what are the features of the STM?

Answer 11

• duration: 0-18s
• capacity: 7+/-2 items
• encoding: acoustic

Question 12

what is the LTM?

Answer 12

• in order to remember information, ‘retrieval’ must occur, which is when information is transferred back into the STM, and will continue to pass
  through the maintenance loop afterwards.
• info is transferred from STM to LTM if rehearsed

Question 13

what are the features of the LTM?

Answer 13

• duration: unlimited
• capacity: unlimited
• encoding: semantic

Question 14

who researched STM coding?

Answer 14

Baddeley

Question 15

STM coding research: Baddeley

Answer 15

• Baddeley found that if ppt’s were presented with a list of words that were acoustically similar (cat, cab, can), and asked for immediate recall, then they made more errors than they did when presented a list of acoustically different words
• he concluded that this was because there was no confusion based on the way the words sounded.
• this suggests that STM encodes information acoustically

Question 16

who researched LTM coding?

Answer 16

Baddeley

Question 17

LTM coding research: Baddeley

Answer 17

• Baddeley found that if ppt’s were presented with a list of words that were semantically similar (great, large, big), and asked for recall 20 minutes later, they made more errors than they did when presented a list of semantically different words
• he concluded that this was because there was no confusion based on the meanings of the words
• this suggests that LTM encodes information semantically

Question 18

who researched STM capacity?

Answer 18

Miller

Question 19

STM capacity research: Miller

Answer 19

• supports the idea of a limited capacity with his research using the ‘digit span technique’
• involves reading a series of digit sets that get progressively longer
• the individual is asked to immediately repeat the digit set back in the right order
• Miller found that ppt’s could recall on average 7 +/- 2 digits (5-9 items)
• he concluded that STM has limited capacity and that new info coming into STM displaces the old info due to this limited capacity

Question 20

who researched STM duration?

Answer 20

Peterson and Peterson

Question 21

STM duration research: Peterson and Peterson

Answer 21

• Peterson and Peterson asked 24 students to listen to a ‘consonant trigram’ (WRT,HGY)
• immediately after hearing the trigram, they were asked to count backwards in 3’s from this number to prevent rehearsal
• they were asked to recall the trigram after 3,6,9,12,15 or 18s
• it was found that the highest level of recall was after 3 seconds (90%)
• this decreased rapidly as the duration increased (only 2% recalled after 18s)
• concluded that info can only be held in STM for approx. 18-30s

Question 22

who researched LTM duration?

Answer 22

Bahrick

Question 23

LTM duration research: Bahrick

Answer 23

• Bahrick asked 392 ppt’s aged 17-74 to name old classmates from high school
• ppt’s given 50 photos, some from their high school yearbook, some random
• asked if they could recognise their classmates from these photos
• found that 15 years after graduation, the recall was 60% accurate
• after 48 years, recall was 30%
• suggests LTM could potentially have unlimited duration

Question 24

evaluation research into features: high control

Answer 24

ID: one strength of research into memory is that it had high control over variables
Q: this means that the research has been conducted in the controlled setting of a lab, allowing extraneous variables to be controlled
EX: for example, researches could control the sets of digits, letters or word lists given to ppt to make sure they didn’t contain consecutive letters or numbers. this would have made memorising them easier
AN: this is a strength of the research as high levels of control increase the internal validity of the studies

Question 25

evaluation research into features: easy to replicate

Answer 25

ID: furthermore, research into memory is easy to replicate
Q: this means that, because the research took place in controlled conditions, this makes it easy for researchers to repeat it multiple times
EX: for example, researchers can easily use the same sets of digits, letters or words with all ppt’s to ensure that the research is exactly the same every time it’s tested
AN: this is beneficial as it ensures that the research can be tested for replicability, increasing reliability of findings

Question 26

evaluation research into features: lacks mundane realism + ELAB: Bahrick meaningful stimuli

Answer 26

ID: a weakness of research into memory is that the materials used are meaningless
Q: this means that they don’t reflect much of the information we use our STM and LTM for remembering in the real-world
EX: for example, remembering similar sounding words and lists of letters does not reflect real-life memory activities, where what we are trying to remember is more meaningful and varied
AN: this is a limitation as the findings may not be representative of real-life STM and LTM use, decreasing ecological validity
ELAB: Despite this, a particular strength of Bahrick study is the use of meaningful stimuli, and a methodology which is high in mundane realism.
AN: this suggests that the findings have high ecological validity because they can be easily generalised to real-life, due to the stimuli reflecting those which we would often try to learn and recall in our day to day lives

Question 27

evaluation msm: evidence supports memory made up of multiple stores

Answer 27

ID: one strength of the msm is that evidence supports the view that memory is made up of different stores
Q: this means that case studies have shown there are separate stores for STM and LTM
EX: for example, evidence for this comes from KF, who suffered brain damage in a motorcycle accident, which caused damage to his STM whilst his LTM remained completely intact.
AN: this is a strength for the msm as it suggests STM must be separate from LTM, allowing one store to be damaged whilst the other, separate store remains unaffected. therefore, increasing the external validity of the msm

Question 28

evaluation msm: evidence suggests STM isn’t unitary

Answer 28

ID: however, a weakness of the msm is that this evidence also suggests that the STM store isn’t unitary
Q: this means that the msm argues there is only one type of STM but research suggests this is not the case
EX: for example, evidence for this comes from KF as his STM was only damaged for verbal material, as he could only manage 2 digits on the digit-span test), whilst his visual STM remained intact
AN: this is a limitation of the msm as, if STM is only one store, damage to KF’s STM should’ve damaged it all equally

Question 29

evaluation msm: conflicting research about maintenance rehearsal

Answer 29

ID: a limitation of the msm is that there is conflicting evidence regarding the use of maintenance rehearsal in memory
Q: this means that, the msm suggests that the amount of maintenance rehearsal determines the likelihood that the information will pass into the LTM, whereas Craik and Watkins suggest that it is the type of
rehearsal which is more important
EX: for example, they suggest that elaborative rehearsal, instead of prolonged rehearsal is needed to transfer information from the STM into the LTM, by making links with existing knowledge
AN: therefore, this is a weakness as the msm doesn’t effectively explain how some memories transfer quicker than others