multistore model of memory (MSM)

what is the multistore model and who proposed it

ATKINSON and SHIFFRIN

-representation of how information flows through the memory system, made up of: sensory register, short term memory and long term memory

what is coding

format in which information is stored in

what is capacity

the amount of information that can be held in the memory store at any one time

what is duration

the length of time information can be held in the memory store at any one time

what is the environmental stimuli

when sensory information: a sound, visual, smell, touch, taste is detected

what is the sensory register

contains a sub-store for each of the 5 senses so when an environmental stimuli (sensory information) is detected it will be coded in that specific store:

echoic - auditory

iconic - visual

olfactory - smell

haptic - touch

gustatory - taste

what is the coding, capacity and duration of sensory register

coding = depends on the environmental stimuli:

visual (iconic), auditory (echoic), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), touch (haptic)

capacity = unlimited

duration = less than half a second

outline research for duration of sensory register

SPERLING

procedure: tested iconic sensory register (visual) pps were shown a grid with digits and letters for 0.05 seconds

findings: when asked to recall the whole grid recall was poorer VS recall of one row suggesting information decays quickly in sensory register

when does sensory information pass from sensory register to STM

only if we pay attention to the information

what is the coding, capacity, duration in short term memory

coding = acoustically

capacity = 7+/-2 items and chunking

duration = 18-30seconds

outline research for coding STM

BADDELEY

procedure: lab experiment, pps split into 4 groups each shown a different list of 10 words:

acoustically similar - (words that sound same)

acoustically dissimilar - (words that sound different)

semantically similar - (words with same meaning)

semantically dissimilar - (words with unrelated meaning)

findings: immediate recall was worst from list 1 VS list 2 = stm codes info acoustically - its difficult to recall similar sounding words because the sounds interfere with each other

outline research for capacity STM

MILLER

-he found that every day things are usually grouped in 7s, e.g. 7 days of the week so concluded stm the capacity of information 7+/-2 items

-he also realised 5 words could be as easily recalled as 5 letters due to chunking

> chunking - grouping items/ letters into units improves recall because the overall amount of items is reduced

outline research for duration STM

PETERSON and PETERSON

procedure: pps shown 3 letter trigrams, HRK no vowels included and then counted backwards to prevent maintenance rehearsal

findings: after 18seconds recall was less than 3% suggesting information only lasts in stm for 18-30seconds

when does information pass from STM to LTM

when information is rehearsed (consciously repeated inside the mind) it will pass from stm to ltm, the rest of information will be lost/ forgotten

maintenance rehearsal - keeps info in stm, and may eventually move into ltm

elaborative rehearsal - when info is coded semantically (info is given a meaning) it will pass straight into ltm

what is the coding, capacity, duration in long term memory

coding = semantically

capacity = unlimited

duration = unlimited

outline research for coding LTM

BADDELEY

procedure: lab experiment, pps split into 4 groups each shown a list of 10 different words

acoustically similar - words sound similar

acoustically different - words sound different

semantically similar - words similar meaning

semantically different - words different meaning

findings: after 20minutes recall was worse from list 3 VS list 4 - suggests information coded semantically in ltm because brain gets confused when retrieving words with similar meaning

outline research for capacity LTM

WAGNAR

procedure: kept a diary over 6 years where he recorded 2,400 events, he then tested himself on the events

findings: 75% recall after 1year and 45% recall after 5years

outline research for duration LTM

BAHRICK

procedure: pps of different ages were shown images of students from their graduating class and asked to recall their names

findings: for pps 48years since graduating face recognition 70% and name recall 30% suggesting duration of ltm may be unlimited

how is information remembered

by retrieval where information is passed back into the stm and passes through the maintenance loop

strength strength weakness weakness

:) BADDELEY identified clear difference between how information is coded in stm (acoustically) and ltm (semantically) provided foundational knowledge on these memory stores - they must be separate stores led to development of msm

:( BADDELEY and PETERSON+PETERSON artificial tasks - research lacks mundane realism, semantically similar words had no actual meaning to pps and the trigrams, consonant syllables are not the type of information we learn in everyday life therefore lacks generaliseability as the stimuli used in both studies does not reflect everyday memory activities e.g. memorising for exams

:) BAHRICKS realistic research he used meaningful stimuli by investigating accuracy of photo recognition and name recall to assess memory and when researchers carried out similar research using meaningless pictures recall rates were significantly lower hence results can be generalised as face recognition and name recall are things we do everyday

:( msm is oversimplified there is evidence stm and ltm are more complex: SHALLICE and WARRINGTON researched patient KF and discovered he had good memory for digits when he read by himself but poor memory when digits were read to him + TULVING ltm can be split into procedural, episodic, semantic not not full explanation of how humans store memory