1. The Multi Store Memory model

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

the multi store memory model

diagram

coding

the different information formats the brain uses to store memory

capacity

how much information can be held by a store

duration

how long information can be held in that store for before loss

coding of sensory register

modality specific

capacity of sensory register

unlimited

duration of sensory register

250ms

coding of STM

acoustic

capacity of STM

7 +- 2 items

duration of STM

18 seconds

coding of LTM

semantic

capacity of LTM

unlimited

duration of LTM

unlimited

Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)

asked pps to free recall word lists. found recall was stronger for words at the start and end of the lists.

suggests there are separate short and long term memory stores

primacy effect

words first heard enter LTM

recency effect

most recent words are held by STM

one strength is research to suggest that there are separate stores of memory which is the basis of the MSM

Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) observed that pps remember more from the start and end of a word list than the middle

this supports the MSM as the words at the start of the list had been rehearsed more and thus transferred to the LTM for retrieval. the words at the end of the list were still in the STM (maintenance rehearsal) but the middle words had decayed/ been displaced

this evidence points towards separate stores of memory (improves reliability)

one strength is supporting evidence by lab studies

Beardsley (1997) found that the prefrontal cortex is active during STM but not LTM

Squire et al (1992) used brain scanning and found that the hippocampus is active when the LTM is engaged

this provides strong support from the MSM

improves validity

one limitation is that it is oversimplified

the model suggests that both STM and LTM are unitary stores but research does not support his

the WMM suggests we have different stores for acoustic and visual memories (STM). for LTM it is suggested we have episodic, procedural, and semantic memories

therefore this suggests the MSM is too simplistic

one limitation is the experiments testing MSM are artificial

research supporting the MSM are lab experiments involving artIficial tasks (memorising word lists, trigrams) which do not reflect real life (lacking external validity)

there is low ecological validity and results collected in lab environments may not be generalisable to natural situations (lack of mundane realism)

therefore the MSM lacks ecological validity

state how information in STM is lost

displacement

decay

state how information in LTM is lost

interference

retrieval failure