the multistore model of memory Flashcards
who proposed it
Atkinson and Shiffrin
what does the model suggest
Memories are formed sequentially and information passes from one component to the next, in a linear fashion.
Each of the specific components has its own:
• Type of Coding
• Capacity
-Duration
MSM
Environmental stimuli
Sensory memory
-iconic-visual elements
-echoic-auditory elements
-other sensory stores
-capacity for sensory memory is very large-always taking in information via senses-lot of space to hold a lot of things
-duration very short
attention-bits of information we pay attention to-arrow to short term memory
short term memory-duration 18-30s-capacity of 7+/-2 items-coded acoustically
spinning arrow looping around STM- maintenance rehearsal-repeating information to ourselves to keep in minds-kept in STM-do this for long enough it becomes prolonged rehearsal-moves information to LTM
arrow to LTM labelled rehearsal-arrow back to STM labelled retrieval-brings LTM information back to STM
forgetting in MSM
sensory memory-decay-information not payed attention to fades to nothing
STM- decay and displacement-new memories push old memories out STM
LTM-interference and retrieval failure
MSM information
• Information enters the sensory register via our senses.
• Our sensory register has an unknown (but supposedly unlimited) capacity and a very limited duration of less than one second (approximately 250 milliseconds).
• As information enters from all five senses the coding is modality specific and said to be raw, or unprocessed, information.
• Information that is attended to is passed to STM, which has a limited capacity of 7+/-2 ‘chunks’ of information and a limited duration of approximately 20-30 seconds.
- Information in our STM is coded in an acoustic format. Maintenance rehearsal is used to keep information in short-term memory. For example, if you were trying to remember a phone number, you might repeat the number over and over in your head.
• Thereafter, rehearsed information is transferred to LTM, which has an unlimited capacity and a lifetime’s duration.
Information in LTM is coded semantically (by meaning) and can be retrieved from LTM to STM when required.
• Forgetting can occur at any stage in various different ways.
• In sensory memory information decays rapidly if not paid attention to.
• In STM decay or displacement can occur.
• LTM is prone to retrieval failure and interference.
strength-research support
Research support for the idea of LTM and STM being different and separate stores was provided by Baddeley (1966)
In his study on coding he gave participants 1 of 4 lists of words to remember and he found that acoustically similar words were harder to recall immediately and semantically similar words were harder to recall after 20mins.
It was concluded that acoustic confusion was occuring in STM and semantic confusion in LTM, suggesting STM codes acoustically and LTM semantically. - found that STM codes acoustically and LTM semantically
Shows that the two types of memory are different entities.
counterpoint to research support-artificial stimuli/tasks
Despite such apparent support, in everyday life we form memories related to all sorts of useful things - peoples faces, their names, facts, places, et cetera.
But many of the studies that support the multi store model use none of these materials. Instead they use digits, letters, and sometimes words. They even use what’s known as consonant syllables that have no meaning.
This means that the multi store model may not be an accurate or valid model of how memory works in our everyday lives, where we have to remember much more meaningful information than is often used in research studies
limitation-different types of STM
The MSM states that STM is a unitary store i.e. there is only one type. However evidence from patients suffering from amnesia suggests that this is not true.
Shallice and Warrington (1970) studies a patient known as KF.
KFs STM for digits was very poor when they read them aloud to him, but his recall was much better when he was able to read digits to himself. This suggests that there is more than one ST store - one for sounds and one for images.
Such research challenges the MSM as it shows that there must be at least 2 types of short-term store, rather than just 1 unitary store as the model suggests.
limitation-outdated model
Atkinson and Shiffrin Based the multi store model on the evidence available at the time that showed short-term memory and long term memory to be single memory stores, separate and independent from each other.
However there is a lot of research evidence that long-term memory, like short-term memory is not a single memory store. For example, we have one long-term store for our memories of facts about the world, and we have a different one for our memories of how to ride a bicycle.
Combined with research showing that there is more than one type of short-term memory and even more than one type of rehearsal, this suggests that the multi store model is an oversimplified and outdated model of memory.
