multi-store memory model

who proposed the multi-store model of memory?

richard atkinson and richard shiffrin

what does the multi-store model describe?

a system for how memories are made and stored

what are the three main components of the multi-store model?

sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory

what is the sensory register?

where all sensory information from the environment passes into or is held

what is coding?

the process of transforming and converting information from the environment into a format that can be stored and retrieved by memory stores like short term memory and long term memory

iconic memory

visual information

echoic memory

acoustic (sound) information

haptic memory

haptic (touch) information

what type of coding does the sensory register use?

depends on the sense involved, it is therefore modality-specific

what is capacity?

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

what is the capacity for the sensory register?

very high

how is information from the sensory register passed into the short term memory?

information can be passed if attention is paid to the information passing into the sensory register

what is duration?

the length of time information can be held before it is forgotten

what is the duration of iconic information?

1/3rd of a second

what is the duration of echoic information?

3-10 seconds

what is the duration of haptic information?

1-2 seconds

what is the duration for the sensory register?

milliseconds

what was the main aim of sperling's 1960 study?

to measure the amount of information available after brief exposures to visual stimuli and explore the capacity and duration of sensory memory

what was the total number of letters in the grid used in sperling's study?

12 letters

in the first scenario of sperling's study, how many letters could participants typically recall?

four or five letters

in the second scenario, how many letters could participants recall from a single row?

three letters out of four

what conclusion did sperling draw about the sensory register from his study?

the sensory register is finite; humans can only process and recall a small amount of sensory information

why were participants unable to recall all the letters despite viewing the entire grid?

they did not know which row would be selected, leading to decay of the information in the sensory register

what is the typical capacity of short-term memory?

7 (±2)

how long can information last in short-term memory?

up to 30 seconds

what technique can improve short-term memory capacity?

chunking, which involves grouping information into larger, meaningful units

who conducted research on the capacity of short-term memory and what was the finding?

miller (1956) found that the short term memory capacity could be increased by organising separate bits of information into larger chunks

what happens to information in short-term memory if it is rehearsed?

information can be transferred to long-term memory

what are two ways information can be lost from short-term memory?

decay (fading away) or due to brain injury

what is maintenance rehearsal?

repetition, repeating information over and over and this would keep the information in the short term memory

what is elaborative rehearsal?

encoding the piece of information with other meaningful information, linking it to something you already know and have in your long term memory

what is the duration of information stored in long term memory?

from minutes to a lifetime

what is the capacity of long term memory?

unlimited

what type of encoding is primarily used in long term memory?

mainly semantic, meaning we attach meaning to the information

what evidence supports the multi-store model of memory?

evidence comes from cases where individuals have lost either their short term memory or long term emory but retained the other

what phenomenon describes the tendency to recall earlier words more effectively?

the 'primacy' effect

what is the 'recency' effect in memory recall?

the tendency to recall the last words in a list more effectively because they are still in short-term memory

what happens to memory recall after a delay of 10 seconds or more?

only the primary effect is observed, indicating that only long-term memory is affected

what was the task given to participants in glanzer and cunitz's study?

participants were tasked with recalling word lists

what does the research by glanzer and cunitz highlight about memory?

it highlights the distinction between short-term memory and long-term memory

what evidence supports the separation of short-term and long-term memory?

the use of pet scans and mri scans during tasks related to each type of memory

which brain structure is associated with short-term memory?

prefrontal cortex

which brain structure is associated with long-term memory?

hippocampus

what case study supports the multi-store model of memory and what does it illustrate?

clive wearing's case study supports the multi-store model by showing he could only retain new information for 20-30 seconds but could recall past memories, illustrating that memory involves distinct stores

how does the hippocampus function in relation to memory storage?

the hippocampus transfers information from short-term memory to long-term memory

what does evidence from brain scans suggest about memory storage?

different areas of the brain are responsible for short-term memory and long-term memory tasks, supporting the idea of discrete memory stores in the multi-store model

what is a major limitation of the multi-store model of memory regarding real-life memory creation?

memories are created within contexts rather than in laboratory-based 'free-recall' experiments

why do the research findings of the multi-store model lack ecological validity?

the findings were gathered in artificial settings, which may not reflect real-world situations

what alternative method did lockhart et al. (1972) propose for transferring memories to long-term memory?

they proposed that the level of processing, in addition to rehearsal, plays a role in transferring memories to long-term memory

what concept was included in the revised multi-store model of memory due to lockhart et al.'s findings?

elaborative rehearsal was included as a method for transferring memories to long-term memory

what approach does the multi-store model of memory take in explaining human memory?

it takes a nomothetic approach, aiming to create a universal model

what alternative approach could provide a more complex and accurate picture of memory?

an idiographic, individual approach that uses examples of real-life remembering

conrad (1964) aims

determine how short-term memory is encoded

conrad (1964) results

letters with similar sounds proved more difficult to recall correctly than letters with different sounds even though the different sounding letters looked more similar

conrad (1964) conclusion

short-term memory encoding is acoustic (hearing)

conrad (1964) strength

conclusion is supported by baddeley (1966) who found similar effects when testing words that sounded similar

what is a weakness of conrad's (1964) study?

it lacks mundane realism

what does the use of single letters in conrad's (1964) study fail to reflect?

it does not reflect the memory tasks used in everyday life

what other methods of encoding are used besides auditory in memory tasks?

visual, taste, and smell

what was the aim of the peterson and peterson (1959) study?

to investigate the importance of rehearsal in memory and the duration of short-term memory

what was the key finding regarding the recall of trigrams after different time intervals?

after 3 seconds, 80% of trigrams were recalled correctly; after 6 seconds, this fell to 50%; and after 18 seconds, less than 10% were recalled correctly.

what conclusion did peterson and peterson draw about short-term memory?

short-term memory has a limited duration of about 18 seconds when rehearsal is prevented

how does the peterson and peterson study contribute to the understanding of memory?

it shows that short-term memory is different from long-term memory in terms of duration, supporting the multi-store model

what was a strength of the peterson and peterson study?

it had good control with standardised procedures, allowing for replication and reliability checks

what limitation did the peterson and peterson study have regarding realism?

it lacked mundane realism and external validity due to the use of artificial stimuli

what type of stimuli did the peterson and peterson study focus on?

the study only considered the duration of short-term memory for trigrams

what was the aim of baddeley's 1966 study?

to determine how information is encoded in short-term memory and long-term memory

what were the results regarding acoustically similar words in short-term memory?

participants had difficulty recalling acoustically similar words in the short-term memory test

what were the results regarding semantically similar words in long-term memory?

participants found it harder to recall semantically similar words in the long-term memory test

what conclusion did baddeley draw about short-term memory and long-term memory?

short-term memory is largely coded acoustically, while long-term memory is mainly coded semantically

how did baddeley's study contribute to the understanding of memory?

it showed a fundamental difference in how information is stored in stm versus ltm, crucial for the development of memory models

what is one strength of baddeley's study?

reliability due to the use of standardised procedures and a controlled laboratory setting

what internal validity strength does baddeley's study have?

the controlled environment allowed for a clear cause-and-effect relationship between word list type and memory recall

what was the sample size in baddeley's study?

72 participants, which helps to average out anomalies and increase generalisability

what is a limitation regarding the ecological validity of baddeley's study?

the artificial setting does not reflect how people use memory in everyday life, limiting generalisability to real-world situations

what is a potential issue with the sample used in baddeley's study?

volunteer bias, as participants were volunteers, which may lead to a biased sample not representative of the general population

what aspect of memory encoding did baddeley's study limit its investigation to?

only investigated acoustic and semantic encoding, potentially overlooking other important aspects of memory

what was the aim of bahrick's 1966 study?

to investigate the duration of long-term memory

what percentage of participants could match names and faces 14 years after graduation?

90% of participants

what percentage of participants could match names and faces 47 years after graduation?

60% of participants

what conclusion did bahrick draw about long-term memory?

people can remember certain types of information, such as names and faces, for almost a lifetime

how do bahrick's results relate to the multi-store model of memory?

the results supported the msm and the idea that long-term memory has a lifetime duration and is semantically encoded