the multi-store model of memory

• what is this memory of model called?

  the multi-store model

  
• who created the multi-store model of memory?

  atkinson and shiffrin (1968)
• where does the sensory memory take information from the mutli-store model?


  environmental stimuli = one of the sense organs (sight, smell, touch, taste, hear)
• sight =

  iconic
• hearing =

  echoic
• touch =

  haptic
• sperling (1960)...


  presented a grid of letters for less than a second to participants - on average participants recalled 4 letters

  when the "particial report" technique was used, it demonstrated how iconic memory can hold up to 10 items, but decays before we can report them all
• how long does it take information to decay?


  2 seconds or less
• baddeley (1966)...


  presented lists of 10 words to participants - some lists of words were semantically similar, others were not

  some participants were tested immedietly, whilst others were tested twenty minutes after the initial reading
• what did baddeley (1966) find?


  that after 20 minutes, participants did poorly on semantically similar words - suggests that we encode LTM semantically and so get similar meaning words confused
• what are some evaluation points of the multi-store model?


  clear and simple

  there is research that supports the idea of the model - however, these experiments lack ecological validity, as they were all conducted in a lab + stimuli used was often meaningless and artificial
• what two effects did glanzer and cunitz come up with in 1966?


  the primacy effect

  the recency effect
• the primacy effect...


  is when people tend to remember the first 5 words or so from the beginning of a list that they are given
• the recency effect...


  is when people tend to remember the last 5 words or so from the list that they are given
• why does the primacy effect occur?


  because the first few words are rehearsed and then transferred to LTM
• why does the recency effect occur?


  because they are the final few words, they remain fresh in STM
• what does glanzer and cunitz's study do?


  supports the STM memory store of the multi-store model and demonstrates the importance of rehearsal when trying to remember something
• shallice and warrington (1970)...


  conducted research on patient KF, who had severe amnesia

  his STM for digits when they were read aloud was poor, however he was able to recall digits much better when he could read them
• what does the research into KF demonstrate?

  suggests that there are multiple stores for STM, not just 1 as the multi-store model suggests - visual and auditory STM must be stored in seperate places within a memory system
• eysneck and keane (1995)...


  demonstrated that information in constantly entering LTM without rehearsal - people don't need to rehearse where they were during a traumatic event

  limitation of the multi-store model
• craik and lockhart (1972)...


  found that simple maintenance rehearsal is not important - what determines storage in LTM is the depth of processing

  limitation of multi-store model of memory
• brown and kulik (1977)...


  "flashbulb memories" = snapshots of key personal events which can seemingly go straight to LTM without the need for rehearsal

  limitation of the multi-store model of memory
• shallice and warrington (1970)...


  rehearsal is not essential for STM as the multi-store model suggests

  brain-damaged patients with no STM can still recall LTM from before they had their damage