MULTI-STORE MODEL OF MEMORY

Process of human memory as information processors

sensory register

SENSORY REGISTER

key process; senses/perception

capacity; high

duration; >0.5 s

encoding; senses

Short term memory

STM

key process; attention

capacity; 5-9 items

duration; up to 30s

encoding; acoustic

attention in short term memory

• when attention is taken away from information, it is displaced and no longer available.

• information may also be displaced by new information

• rehearsal plays a key role in determining what remains in LTM

Long-term memory

LTM

key process; rehearsal

capacity; potentially unlimited

duration; indefinite

encoding; semantic

recall / retrieval in the MSM

• memories may be distorted when retrieved; gaps filled to create a meaningful memory ← predicted by schema theory

• in recall, information has to transfer back to the STM ← according to MSM, nothing is directly recalled from the LTM

3 stores / stages of memory according to the MSM

SENSORY REGISTER

key process; senses/perception

capacity; high

duration; >0.5 s

encoding; senses

STM

key process; attention

capacity; 5-9 items

duration; up to 30s

encoding; acoustic

LTM

key process; rehearsal

capacity; potentially unlimited

duration; indefinite

encoding; semantic

Credibility of MSM

HIGH

large amounts of evidence;

— cognitive; Baddeley studies, 1966b

— biological; Case study of HM, Milner 1966 ← HM couldn’t form memories by transferring info to LTM but retained STM - short conversations / good results on tests of immediate memory

therefore, high credibility to there being more than 1 memory store

Objections to MSM

↓ POPULATION VALIDITY

• mostly based on non-generalisable research; most are case studies (HM & KF)

↓ ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY

• tasks are too artificial in nature, lack mundane realism. e.g Baddeley, trigrams of letters & numbers

Applications of MSM

• historical importance; gave psychologists of the 1960s a way to talk about & understand how memory works. much of the following research was based on the MSM

• knowing the characteristics of different memory stores helped find strategies to improve it;

— rehearsal

— chunking; increasing STM capacity by organising information

Differences of MSM to other theories

oversimplified; doesn’t explain

• memory distortion → reconstructive memory does this (schemas)

• why some things are remembered without rehearsal → Flashbulb’s theory explains with the role of emotion

amounts of STM stores

• MSM states there is only 1

• evidence showing there’s different stores for visual/acoustic from information from people with amnesia → Elizabeth Warrington 1970 study of KF (poor STM for digits he heard / better STM for digits he read)

MSM similarities to WMM

• argue that rehearsal is necessary for transferring STM → LTM

• agree that STM has a limited capacity / duration

• neither explain memory distortion

• neither explain the role of emotion in memory

MSM differences to WMM

• the WMM focuses on STM only → argues that it’s multiple different stores

• the WMM argues that different materials are processed differently → visual/spatial vs acoustic

multitasking;

• MSM argues that it’s impossible (displacement)

• WMM explains that its possible when different components of the STM are being used

Conclusion about MSM

• useful with the knowledge available in the 1960s; encapsulated many findings about memory stores/processes

• however, further research showed it to be oversimplified → multiple STM/LTM stores, different stores for visual/acoustic information

• MSM eventually gave way to the WMM that accommodated the new findings more successfully

• the MSM remains important; has greatly influenced our understanding of memory