The Multi-Store Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)

Question 1

What are Control Processes?

Answer 1

Conscious decisions about what information to attend to from the sensory information in our environment.

Question 2

What are Structural Features of memory?

Answer 2

Hardware built into the computer which cannot be altered by the programmer - basic memory stores and its control processes.

Question 3

What do the control processes include?

Answer 3

• Encoding
• Rehearsal
• Retrieval

Question 4

What are the 3 stores of memory?

Answer 4

• Sensory register
• Short-term memory
• Long-term memory

Question 5

What are the characteristics of the Sensory Register?

Answer 5

• Encoding: sense-specific (touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight).
• Duration: 0.5 seconds.
• Capacity: limited to 1 sense.

Question 6

What are the characteristics of the STM?

Answer 6

• Encoding: mainly acoustic.
• Duration: 15-30 seconds.
• Capacity: 7+or-2 items.

Question 7

What are the characteristics of the LTM?

Answer 7

• Encoding: mainly semantic.
• Duration: unlimited.
• Capacity: unlimited.

Question 8

Describe the Multi-Store Model of Memory.

Answer 8

• Sensory experiences (information) is stored in the Sensory Register for around 0.5s.
  
  • If information is attended to, it flows into the STM for 15-30s.
    
    • If it is rehearsed, it is encoded into the LTM which has an unlimited duration.
      
      • Info can be retrieved from LTM and brought back into the STM.
      • Info can be recalled from STM and brought into the conscious mind.

Question 9

What does Decay mean?

Answer 9

When memory’s are forgotten over time.

Question 10

How is information forgotten from the Sensory Register?

Answer 10

Decay if information is not paid any attention.

Question 11

How is information forgotten in the STM?

Answer 11

Decay through displacement: as the STM can only hold 5-9 items of info, any more items entering the store will displace other items with a weaker memory trace which are forgotten.

Question 12

How is information forgotten in the LTM?

Answer 12

Decay and interference.

Question 13

Using ELA, evaluate MSM theory?

Answer 13

Evidence:

• Sperling (1960-63) (para 1)
• H.M. and Clive Wearing (para 2)

Objections:

• K.F. (para 2)

Application:

• Improval of Memory (para 3)

Question 14

What did Sperling (1960-63) investigate?

Answer 14

Capacity/Duration of Sensory Register:

• A visual array of letters presented via a tachistoscope for a moment.
• A direction is given to recall the whole or a specific row of the array.

Question 15

What did Sperling find?

Answer 15

Results:

• P’s typically recalled 4.32 letters on average.
• If a direction is given after they’ve seen the array, recall is precise. If there is a delay before the direction is given, recall falls.
  
  • Shows sensory can only hold info for a few hundred milliseconds before its lost.

Question 16

What was the case of Clive Wearing?

Answer 16

• CW recieved brain damage to his hippocampus after a viral infection.
• He could still use his STM to remember things for about 20 seconds but would then forget everything (couldn’t make new memories).
  
  • MSM can be applied: unable to rehearse info into LTM.

Question 17

What are the applications of MSM?

Answer 17

Improve memory in some situations:

• eyewitnesses need to pay close attention to encode information to STM and then rehearse it (elaborative rehearsal) to encode semantically into the LTM.

Question 18

What are evaluation points against the multi-store model?

Answer 18

• Sperling: lacks ecological validity (artificial task and in a lab) and mundane realism (real-life extraneous variables which affect memory).
  
  • This makes the theory seem weaker and less valid as an explanation of memory.
• Case Studies: KF could still add memories to the LTM even though his STM was so damaged that he could only recall 2 digits.
  
  • Makes the theory seem weaker as it is incomplete and cannot explain why some can encode and others can’t.