The Multistore Model of Memory Flashcards
Explain the role of the sensory register in memory
It holds sensory information taken in from the 5 senses
What are the features of the sensory register?
Short duration - 1/2 seconds
Large capacity
Sensory coding
Evidences for the sensory register?
Sperling conducted an experiment in which he tested the capacity of the SR
What was Sperling’s method?
Sperling flashed a grid of letters for 50 milliseconds and then tests 2 conditions.
1) How many letters were recalled
2) Tones were played to indicate which row should be recalled
What did Sperling find?
1) Half of all the letters are learnt
2) 3/4 letters from a row are learnt
How did Sperling use his results to make a conclusion about sensory register
He concluded that the results showed that SR has a large capacity but due to the short duration, when one area of the grid is recalled the rest is forgotten. So, a higher percentage of letters from individual rows were remembered.
What memory store follows the SR according to MSM?
STM where information is stored for an ongoing task
Explain the features of STM?
Duration of 18-30 seconds
Capacity of 7+/-2 digits/letters/chunks
Acoustic coding
How did Jacobs prove STM’s capacity?
He used a digit span test with an increasing number of digits and letters
Most ppts remembered 7 +/-2 digits/letters
How did Miller prove STM?
He suggested the idea of chunking, where the Magic number 7 +/- 2 still applies but with units of letters/digits into meaningful chunks
What is the next memory store after STM?
LTM
Explain the features of LTM?
Duration that is potentially unlimited
Capacity that is very large
Semantic coding
How did Bahrick study the duration of LTM?
He used 2 conditions;
1) Recall - Ppts asked to recall names of high school classmates
2) Recognition - Ppts asked to recognise classmates using their photos
What results did Bahrick’s Yearbook study produce 15 years later?
15 years:
Recall - 60%
Recognition - 90%
What results did Bahrick’s Yearbook study produce 48 years later?
48 years:
Recall - 30%
Recognition - 80%
How did Baddeley study the coding of the 2 memory stores?
He used 4 groups of participants and lists of words
How did Baddeley prove STM has an acoustic code?
The acoustically similar words - least recalled due to confusing the order
The acoustically dissimilar words - well recalled because it had a distinct sound
How did Baddeley prove that LTM has a semantic code?
Semantically similar words - least recalled due to confusion
Semantically dissimilar words - well recalled due to distinct meanings
Who suggested the multi store model?
Atkinson and Shiffrin
How did info transfer from SR to STM?
Through paying attention to the info
How does info transfer from STM to LTM?
Through rehearsal and repetition of the info
Explain the effect of memory store damage
Due to the unidirectional flow of information, damage to one memory store does not affect those before it and stop additional memories being formed for later ones.
EG: damage to STM prevents further LTM memories forming but previous LTM memories remain
Explain a case study that supports MSM?
Patient H.M; A young man could only form STM because LTM was damaged by removal of the hippocampus, this shows there are multiple stores that can be damaged independently
Explain brain imaging techniques that support MSM?
Different areas of the brain were activated when using different memory stores
STM - Frontal cortex
LTM - hippocampus
