The Nature of Memory - Multi-store model

Question 1

what are the components of the multi-store model

Answer 1

• sensory store
• short- term memory store
• Long - term memory store

Question 2

Define coding

Answer 2

the way that information is transferred into a form it can be store in

Question 3

define duration

Answer 3

the length of time that the store holds information

Question 4

define capacity

Answer 4

the amount of information that can be held in a memory store

Question 5

how is sensory memory coded

Answer 5

through all 5 senses

Question 6

what is the duration of the sensory memory store

Answer 6

<1/2 a second

Question 7

what is the capacity of the sensory memory store

Answer 7

unlimited

Question 8

how is short-term memory coded

Answer 8

acoustically

Question 9

What is the duration of the short-term memory

Answer 9

18-30 seconds

Question 10

what is the capacity of the short-term memory store

Answer 10

7+/- 2 items

Question 11

How is long-term memory coded

Answer 11

semantically

Question 12

what is the duration of the long-term memory store

Answer 12

a lifetime

Question 13

what is the capacity of the long-term memory

Answer 13

unlimited

Question 14

describe a piece research into the duration of STM

Answer 14

Peterson and Peterson 1959
Aim: to investigate the duration of STM when no rehearsal is allowed.
- they tested 24 undergraduates for 8 trials
- on each trial they were given a trigram to memorise
- also given a 3 digit number to count down from in 3’s as a distractor task - prevent mental rehearsal
- asked to stop counting after a set time between 3 and 18 seconds

Question 15

What is the conclusion of Peterson and Peterson 1959

Answer 15

Conclusion - without rehearsal duration of STM is very short.

Question 16

what were the results of Peterson and Peterson 1959

Answer 16

• ~ 90% of trigrams were recalled after a 3 second retention interval
• only 10% of trigrams were recalled after a 18 second retention interval

Question 17

describe a piece of research into the duration of LTM

Answer 17

Bahrick et al 1975
aim: to investigate the effect of prompts on LTM
*392 participants from ohio USA aged 17-74
* year books were retrieved from their high schools
* recall was tested in different ways
- photo recognition ➙ 50 photos from yearbook
or
- free recall ➙ recall the names of their graduating class

Question 18

what were the results of Bahrick et al 1975

Answer 18

• Photo recognition: participants tested within 15 years of graduation had ~ 90% accuracy. After 48 years they had 70% accuracy.
• Free recall: participants tested after 15 years had an accuracy of 60% and after 48 years this dropped to 30% accuracy.

Question 19

give a conclusion and an evaluation of Bahrick et al 1975

1 strength

Answer 19

Conclusion - prompts improve accuracy of LTM.

Evaluation - a strength of this research is that it has high ecological validity.

Question 20

outline a piece of research into the multi-store model

Answer 20

Murdock 1974
- aim: to investigate whether there are separate stores for the short-term and long-term memory
- participants were each read a list of words varying in length from 10-40 words ( each presented for 1-2 seconds)

serial position curve

Question 21

explain the results of Murdock 1974

Answer 21

The probability of recall was improved at the beginning and end of the list while the ones in the middle were often forgotten.
The improved recall from the beginning of the list is called the primary effect and the improved recall from the end of the list is referred to as the recency effect

serial position curve

Question 22

give a conclusion for Murdock 1974

Answer 22

• There are separate stores for short term and long term memory.
• the first words and the last words were remembered by the participants due to the primary effect and the recency effect.
• the words in the middle were removed from short-term memory store due to displacement and weren’t held for long enough to be transferred into long term memory.

Question 23

define primary effect

Answer 23

the first words being transferred into long term memory from the participant being able to rehearse the words.

Question 24

define the recency effect

Answer 24

the participant having the most recent words stored in their short-term memory store which has a capacity of 7 +/-2 so could only hold the most recent words

Question 25

What does the serial position curve - Murdock 1974 support

Answer 25

• The serial position curve provides evidence that the there’re separate stores for long-term and short-term memory this is shown by the primary effect and the recency effect.
• The research also supports the concept of the short-term memory having a limited capacity due to the words in the middle of the list being displaced and forgotten.

Question 26

what did Murdock’s research discover in 1974

Answer 26

The serial position effect

Question 27

who was HM

Answer 27

he had surgery to remove his hippocampus to relieve his epilepsy.
his memory was assessed in 1955 and he believe it was 1953. He had little recall of the operation and couldn’t remember talking to someone an hour earlier.
His long-term memory never improved with practice, however he performed well on tests of immediate memory span

Question 28

give a strength of the multi-store model

Answer 28

A strength of the model is that it is supported by evidence such as the HM case study. HM’s amnesia severely affected, his LTM and ability to form LTM yet his STM was unaffected suggesting that they are stored differently.

Question 29

give a weakness of the multi-store model

Answer 29

STM and LTM arent unitary stores, the model is an over simplfication. Case studies and research such as Tulving 1989 - who performed brains scans proving that different areas of the brain were active when the participant was using different parts of their LTM - and clive waring

Question 30

Evaluate Peterson and Peterson 1959

1 strength and 1 weakness

Answer 30

• a weakness of this research is that it lacks ecological validity
• a strength of this research is that the finding have been replicated

Question 31

who came up with the MSM

Answer 31

Atkinson and Shriffin