Multi-store model ERQ

multi-store model

a model for memory focused on memory storage developed by atkinson & shiffrin

sensory store

short-term store

receives info from the sensory store and records info for about 15-20 seconds and 15-20 minutes if info is rehearsed

• allows you to hold info long enough to record what is necessary - remembering first part of sentence while you read the last

• info is discarded or selected for further processing

• can hold around 7±2 items

• chunking: organization of items into familiar categories to increase memory capacity

long term store

a system that encodes, stores, and retrieves info with an unlimited capacity & duration

factors that impact encoding

• level of processing

• timing of practice

• how info is organized

• a person’s reference to self during learning

• distinctiveness of the item

• testing during learning

glanzer & cunitz (1966) AIM

examine whether the position of words influences recall (primacy & recency effect) and whether there are two seperate stores of memory

glanzer & cunitz (1966) PROCEDURE

240 US army enlisted males were presented lists of words one at a time and asked to recall them in any order (free recall)

• IV - presence/absence of a 30 second distraction task

• DV - number of words correctly recalled from different positions in the list

• condition 1 - half were asked to recall words immediately after memorization

• condition 2 - other half counted backwards for 30s before recalling words

glanzer & cunitz (1966) RESULTS

delaying recall by 30s destroyed recency effect (recall of later words was similar to middle words)

• participants had a higher chance of recalling info at the start (primacy) and end (recency) of the list

glanzer & cunitz (1966) CONCLUSION

when there are too many words, primacy effect & recency effect occur

• primacy effect occurs as words have been placed in LTM

• recency effect occurs as words are still in STM

• distractor task reduces recency effect as it interferes with STM

glanzer & cunitz (1966) EVALUATION

provides evidence for STM & LTM, supporting MSM

• highly controlled variables (same distractor task) - high reliability

• low ecological validity - memorizing words is artificial

limitations of model

• describes rather than explains why info is stored

• suggests that memory formation is grouped & distinct but lesion studies have shown that memories are spread

• model doesn’t account for memories being stored based on importance

• model is simple & doesn’t account for why some things are learned with little rehearsal or are rehearsed and aren’t in LTM

level of processing theory

presented by Craik & Lockhart in 1972

• stimulus info is processed at multiple levels simultaneously depending on characteristics

• deeper processing = more remembered

• info being attended to receives more processing than other stimuli

• we remember more meaningful things as they are processed more deeply

• processing at diff levels is automatic unless we attend to that level

• Umejima et al. (2021) found that writing things on paper caused deeper processing than typing

biases

all studies were conducted on western citizens, unclear whether they can be generalized across the global population

Milner et al. (1968) AIM

to understand the effects that removing tissue from the medial temporal lobe had on patient HM

Milner et al. (1968) PROCEDURE

method triangulation - case study

• psychometric testing (IQ tests)

• direct observation

• interviews with HM & family

• cognitive testing (memory recall & learning tasks - reverse mirror drawing)

• MRI to see the extent of damage to the brain

Milner et al. (1968) RESULTS

• couldn’t acquire episodic (memory of events) or semantic (general info about the world) knowledge

• had a capacity for working memory

• procedural memory was well maintained

• MRI showed damage to hippocampus - difficulty with transferring memories from STM to LTM

Milner et al. (1968) CONCLUSIONS

• memory systems in the brain are highly complex & specialized

• hippocampus plays a crucial role in converting memory from STM to LTM

• STM is not stored in the hippocampus as HM could retain rehearsed info

• medial temporal region does not store LTM as HM could recall very old memories

• implicit memory has many stores - procedural & emotional memory, skills & habits - related to different areas of the brain

Milner et al. (1968) EVALUATION

longitudinal study over 50 years - change observed over time

high ecological validity

cannot be easily replicated - low reliability & external validity

some data was retrospective as data on Hm’s cognitive abilities before the accident was few