Multi-Store Model of Memory

Flashcards about the multi-store model of memory.

What is Memory?

The capacity to retain, store, and retrieve information.

What is the multi-store model of memory?

A representation of how memory works in terms of 3 stores: the sensory register, the short-term memory (STM), and the long-term memory (LTM).

What are the features used to describe each store of memory?

Capacity, coding, and duration.

What is the sensory register?

Holds memory stores for each of our five senses.

What is the capacity of the sensory register?

Very high.

How does the sensory register encode information?

Visually (iconic memory) or acoustically (echoic memory).

What is the duration of the sensory register?

Only half a second.

How is information transferred from our sensory register to our STM?

We must pay attention to it.

What is the capacity of short-term memory (STM) ?

Approximately 5 to 9 items of information at one time.

How is information coded in the STM?

Acoustically (by sound).

What happens to information in the STM if it is not rehearsed?

It is lost within 18 to 30 seconds if not rehearsed through maintenance rehearsal.

How is information transferred from the STM to the LTM?

Through elaborative rehearsal.

What is the capacity of long-term memory (LTM)?

Unlimited capacity.

How is information coded in the LTM?

Semantically (the information has to be given meaning).

How is information transferred from the LTM to the STM?

Through retrieval/recall.

What can help access a memory in long-term memory (LTM)?

Prompts (memory cues) can make it easier to access a memory.

Is there any supporting evidence for the sensory register?

Sperling investigated the capacity of the sensory register by showing participants a grid of 3 rows with 4 letters each for 0.05 seconds; they had to recall the whole grid, then one row (but did not know which one). Sperling found that participants recalled 4/12 letters from the whole grid and 3/4 letters from one row; results were consistent for all rows, suggesting that the sensory register has a finite capacity.

Is there any supporting evidence for the capacity of the STM?

Yes, Jacobs conducted a laboratory experiment where participants of a wide age range listened to a list of letters or numbers read aloud, then recalled the list. Length gradually increased by 1 until recall was 50%. Jacobs found an average capacity of 9 numbers and 7 letters; capacity increased with age.

Is there supporting evidence for the coding of the STM?

Yes, Conrad carried out a Laboratory experiment where participants were presented with 6 consonants and had to write the sequence down immediately after it disappeared. Conrad found more acoustic errors than visual errors, suggesting that information changed to sound on the way through memory.

Is there any supporting evidence for the duration of the STM?

Yes, Peterson & Peterson carried out a laboratory experiment with 24 psychology students and found that recall accuracy decreased as the interval increased when participants recalled trigrams while counting backward to prevent rehearsal; STM has a limited duration of approximately 18 seconds and if we are unable to rehearse information, it will not be passed to long-term memory.

Is there Practical Application for the MSM?

Yes, it can be applied to education as elaborative rehearsal is useful for revision and it transfers information to the LTM. The info can be retrieved when needed using active recall, and the more rehearsal leads to easier recall. Also, meaningful teaching can help with learning as info is more easily encoded in LTM.

What approach is related to the MSM?

The cognitive approach as it regards memory as a set of internal mental processes. The MSM is a theoretical model of memory as it uses the information processing approach.

Is there any contradictory explanations/evidence for the MSM?

Yes, the WMM argues that the MSM underestimates the complexity of memory by regarding memory as linear.

Also, it regards LTM as a unitary stores instead of episodic, semantic, and procedural.

Does the MSM suffer from ecological validity?

Yes, as the supporting studies were all laboratory experiments which suffered from mundane realism.

Is the MSM reductionist?

Yes, as it underestimates the complexity of memory. It regards memory as linear and that STM is a unitary store.

Does the MSM take an idiographic or nomothetic approach>

Nomothetic as it used scientific methods to establish general laws of memory.