multi store model

• multi store memory system (MSM):

  • developed by atkinson + shiffrin
  • three distinct + separate stores
  • info flows through system
• sensory register:

  • all environment stimuli pass into sensory register
  • coding is modality specific e.g iconic = visual info, echoic = acoustic
  • duration is very brief - less than 1s
  • capacity is very high - 100m cells in one eye
• attention:

  • key process to pass info to the memory system
• STM:

  • info can easily decay or be displaced
• maintenance rehearsal:

  • repetition keeps info in LTM
  • atinkson + shiffrin - continued rehearsal leads to transfer to LTM
  • more info is rehearsed the better its remembered
• LTM:

  • if we want to recall info from LTM, has to be transferred back into STM through retrieval
• serial position effect:

  • Glanzer + cunitz
  • people tend to remember first and last words
• glanzer + cunitz procedure:

  • showed 20 word for 2s each + participants had to recall in any order
• glanzer + cunitz conclusion:

  • words at end only remembered if tested immediately
  • delaying recall by 30s prevented recency effect
• EVALUATION: research support that STM +LTM different

  • Baddeley - semantic + acoustic coding, stores are separate
  • further research = glanzer + cunitz, beardsley brain scans - prefrontal cortex active during STM but not LTM
  • independent stores
• EVALUATION: case study evidence - different areas of brain used, brain damage

  • HM - operation to remove hippocampus from both sides of brain - epilepsy
  • personality + intellect remained, couldnt form new LTMs but could remember things prior to surgery
  • independent - couldnt transfer info from STM to LTM
• case study strengths:

  • detailed data
  • investigate rare situations
  • complex interactions/ factors can be studied
• case study weaknesses:

  • difficult to generalise
  • no past history
  • may lack objectivity
  • ethical issues - confidentiality
• EVALUATION: not unitary stores

  • KF brain damage - difficulty with verbal info but not visual info in STM
  • several researchers - multiple LTM stores, Tulving 3 types of LTM: semantic, procedural + episodic
  • MSM = oversimplified explanation
• EVALUATION: elaborative rehearsal

  • over emphasis of significance of prolonged rehearsal - Craik + Watkins, type of maintenance rehearsal is more important than amount
  • elaborative rehearsal is needed for LTM, info is linked to existing knowledge
  • MSM doesnt explained how LTM storage is achieved, info can be transferred without prolonged rehearsal