Models of Memory

What are models?

Tend to be less rigorous than theories

What does the multi-store model describe?

how information flows through three distinct memory systems

What are the three memory systems of the multi-store model?

Sensory register

Short-term memory

Long-term memory

Who came up with the multi-store model?

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968, 1971)

What is the duration of the sensory register?

less than ½ second

What is the duration of the short-term memory store?

30 seconds

What is the duration of the long-term memory store?

believed to be a lifetime

What is the capacity of the sensory register?

high capacity

What is the capacity of the short-term memory store?

7 +or- 2 bits of information

How is information coded in the iconic sensory register?

visually

How is information coded in the echoic sensory register?

acoustically

How is information coded in the short-term memory store?

accoustically

How much information passes from the sensory register to the short-term memory store?

very little

How does information pass from our sensory register to the short-term memory?

if we pay attention to something

What happens to information in the short-term memory store?

Either passes through to the long-term memory through prolonged rehearsal

Or via a response such as: remembering, decay, or displacement

What does maintenance rehearsal do?

keeps the information in the short-term memory so long as we rehearse it

How does information go into the long-term memory?

prolonged rehearsal - rehearse long enough

How do we recall information from the long-term memory?

The information must first go into the short-term memory

What did Murdock (1962) find?

Words presented first were most easily recalled - the primacy effect

Words presented last were most easily recalled - the regency effect

What did Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) find?

delaying recall by 30 seconds prevented the recency effect

Participants tended to only remember the words presented first

Evaluate the Multi-Store Model of Memory

Baddeley (1966) - found we tend to mix up words that are acoustically similar in our short-term memory, and mix up words that are semantically similar in our long-term memory - supports the idea that long-term memory is coded semantically, and short-term memory codes acoustically

Craik and Watkins (1973) - maintenance rehearsal only keeps things in short-term memory, elaborate rehearsal moves things into the long-term memory - more than one type of rehearsal cannot be explained by the multi-store model

More than one type of long-term memory - multi-store model suggests there is only one type of long-term memory

Shallice and Warrington (1970) - a patient with amnesia could remember and recall things visually, but not acoustically in his short-term memory - must be more than one store in short-term memory

Who developed the Working Memory Model?

Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

What is different about the Working Memory Model than the Multi-Store Model?

Disagreed with aspect surrounding the short-term memory

Argues short-term memory is more complex than suggested by the multi-store model

What is the episodic buffer?

Temporary store that maintains a sense of time sequency

Has a capacity of about four chunks of information

Modality free

What is the central executive?

Allocates tasks to other slave systems

It’s capacity is limited and it codes modality free

What is the phonological loop?

The articulatory control system allows for maintenance rehearsal

The phonological store stores words that we hear

What is the visuospatial sketchpad?

the visual cache stores visual information

The inner scribe records how objects are arranged

It allows you to place and manipulate objects in your mind

Outline the procedure of evidence for the phonological loop and articulator process.

Participants saw everyday words displayed quickly one after another,

Asked to write the words in the same order

condition one - list of 5 one-syllable words

condition two - list of 5 polysyllabic words

What were the findings of the study that provided evidence for the phonological loop and articulator process?

Found participants recalled much better in condition one than condition two - word length effect

What did the research that provided evidence for the phonological loop and articulator process conclude?

Phonological loop has role in capacity of short-term memory

Capacity of the short-term memory is determined by length of time taken to say the words - not the number of items

Seems the phonological loop holds the same amount of information you can say in two seconds

Outline research that provides evidence for the visuospatial sketchpad

Participants asked to complete visual tracking task (task one) at the same time as describing the angles on a letter (task two)

Asked participants to complete task two whilst carrying out verbal task

What were the findings of research that provides evidence for the visuospatial sketchpad?

Completing two visual tasks was more difficult - both use visuospatial sketchpad, they are competing for the same sub-system: dual-task performance

Completing one visual task and one verbal task was easier - visuospatial sketchpad used for task two, phonological loop required for verbal task, aren’t competing for same sub-system

What can be concluded from research that provides evidence for the visuospatial sketchpad?

different activities use diffrent subsystems, there are different memory stores

Outline the research and findings of Baddeley et al. (1975) into the visuospatial sketchpad

Demonstrated existence of visuospatial sketchpad

Participants completed visual tracking task at same time as either another visual tracking task or a verbal task

Two visual tasks more difficult (as they used the same slave-system

This demonstrates the existence of the visuospatial sketchpad

Outline the research and findings of Hitch and Baddeley (1975)

Doing two tasks that involve the same component of the Working Memory Model causes difficulty

When different components are used, performance isn’t affected

Outline the research and findings of Baddeley (1987)

When asked to recall words immediately, participants recalled related words better than unrelated ones

Supports the idea that there exists a memory store for items that are neither visual or spatial