The multi-store model of memory:

• What is the multi-store model?

  • A representation of how memory work in terms of three stores called the sensory register, short term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM)
  • It also describes how information is transferred from one store to another, what makes some memories last and what makes some disappear
• What is the sensory register?

  • Stimulus from the environment passes into the sensory register
  • Sensory register is a store for each of our five senses
  • Duration: less than half a second
  • Capacity: high
  • Coding: Modality specific (i.e. depends on the sense) Two main stores: iconic (visual information) and echoic (auditory information)
  • Transfer: information is passed to the STM if attention is paid to it
• Short-term memory:

  • Duration: About 18 seconds without rehearsal
  • Capacity: On average 7+/-2, recent research suggests it might be closer to 5.
  • Coding: acoustic
  • Transfer: maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat (rehearse) material, this keeps the information in our STM and if we rehearsed long enough it passes into LTM
• Long-term memory:

  • Store of information that had been rehearsed for a prolonged time
  • Duration: up to a lifetime
  • Capacity: unlimited
  • Coding: semantic
  • When we want to recall information, it must be transferred back to the STM by retrieval
• Strength of the MSM:

  P- One strength of the MSM is support from the studies showing that STM and LTM are different.

  E- Baddeley (1966) found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using our STMs. But we mix up words that have similar meanings when we use our LTMs.

  E- Further support comes from the studies of capacity and duration such as Jacobs and Peterson and Peterson

  L- These studies clearly show that STM and LTM are separate and independent memory stores, as claimed by the MSM
• Counterpoint:

  P- Despite such apparent support in everyday life we form memories related to all sorts of useful things- people's faces, their names, facts, places, etc.

  E- However, many of the studies that support the MSM used none of these materials. Instead, they used digits, letters (Jacobs), and sometimes words (Baddeley). They even used what are known as consonant syllables that have no meaning (Peterson and Peterson)

  L- this means that the MSM may not be a valid model of how memory works in our everyday lives where we have to remeber much more meaningful information.
• What is one limitation of the MSM?

  There is evidence of more than one STM store
• Who studied the client referred to as KF?

  Shallice and Warrington
• What clinical memory disorder did KF have?

  Amnesia
• How did KF's STM for digits differ when read aloud versus when he read them himself?

  Worse when read aloud, better when self-read
• What type of sounds did further studies of KF suggest could have another short-term store?

  Non-verbal sounds (e.g. noises)
• What does the evidence from KF suggest about the MSM's claim regarding STM stores?

  MSM is wrong about having one STM store
• What does MSM stand for?

  Multi-Store Model
• What is another limitation of the MSM:

  P- Another limitation of the MSM is that prolonged rehearsal is not needed for transfer to LTM

  E- According to the MSM, what matters about rehearsal is the amount of it- the more you rehearse something, the more likely it is to transfer to LTM. This is prolonged rehearsal.

  E- But Craik and Watkins found that they type of rehearsal is more important than the amount. Elaborative rehearsal is needed for long-term storage.

  L- This suggests that the MSM does not fully explain how long-term storage is achieved.
• Who based the Multi-Store Model (MSM) of memory?

  Atkinson and Shiffrin
• What did Atkinson and Shiffrin's MSM suggest about STM and LTM?

  They are single, separate memory stores
• What does recent research indicate about LTM?

  LTM is not a single memory store
• What does research show about STM according to the MSM?

  There is more than one type of STM
• What does the research suggest about rehearsal in memory?

  There is more than one type of rehearsal
• What are the limitations of the Multi-Store Model (MSM) of memory?

  • Based on outdated research evidence
  • Oversimplifies memory processes
  • LTM is not a single store
  • More than one type of STM and rehearsal