Multi-store memory

• STRENGTH:

  • Support from studies showing that STM and LTM are different
  • IE: Baddeley 1966 found that we tend to mix up words that sound the same when using out STM's
  • But we tend to mix up words that have similar meaning when using our LTM's
  • Further support comes from studies on capacity and duration such as Bahrick and Jacobs
  • This shows that STM and LTM are separate and independent memory stores which was claimed by msm
• LIMITATION:

  • However, despite such apparent support, in everyday life we form memories relation to useful things ie names
  • But many of the support research used artificial materials such as random words (Baddeley) digits or letters (Jacobs)
  • They even used consonant syllables that have no meaning (Peterson and Peterson)
  • This means that msm may not be a valid model of how memory works in everyday life where we have to remember much more meaningful information
• LIMITATION:

  • Evidence of more than 1 STM store
  • Shallice and Warrington 1970 studied a client they referred to as KF who has a clinical memory disorder called amnesia
  • Kf's STM for digits were very poor when they were being read out loud to him
  • But his recall was much better when he read the digits to himself
  • Further studies of KF show that there even could be another short term memory store for non verbal info
  • This evidence suggests that the MSM s wrong for claiming that there is just one STM store processing different types of info ie visual, auditory etc