models of memory

Question 1

what are the strengths of the multi-store model?

Answer 1

1. there is evidence to support that STM and LTM are different, HM had an operation to remove his hippocampus due to severe epilepsy, as a result, his LTM was badly damaged as he couldn’t recall any events that happened earlier in the day but performed well on immediate memory span tests
2. separate stores for STM and LTM can be supported by lab studies as well, Baddeley’s research into coding showed we tend to mix up words that sounds similar when using our STM but mix up words with similar meanings using our LTM

Question 2

what are the weaknesses of the multi-store model?

Answer 2

3. even though these studies support the MSM’s view that the 2 stores are separate, the research uses artificial material to support this, lab studies providing evidence for the MSM uses digits, letters and consonant trigrams with no meaning, it doesn’t reflect real-life memory which is more complex as it’s very rare we have to recall random digits and letters, overall research into the MSM is objective but lacks external validity for real-life application
4. doesn’t account for different types of STM, Shallice and Warrington studied a patient called KF - his short term memory for digits was poor when read aloud but recall was much better when presented visually, the MSM shows STM as a unitary store whereas KF’s case shows at the very least there must separate stores to process visual and auditory information, limited

Question 3

what are the strengths of the working memory model?

Answer 3

1. can be supported by case study evidence as KF’s case showed that after being in a motorbike accident - performed well on visual tasks but badly on auditory tasks so VSSP was not damaged but PL was, shows that there are 2 separate systems that process different information
2. scientific evidence in the form of brain scans may show more valid support for the existence of the WMM, scans show that different areas of the brain are activated when doing verbal and visual tasks showing that the VSSP and PL are separate in the brain, shown by empirical evidence

Question 4

what are the weaknesses of the working memory model?

Answer 4

2. however, there are issues with case study evidence like this as it lacks generalisability, the evidence is from a unique scenario therefore it not only lacks population validity but cannot be replicated so case studies can’t show evidence for all WMMs
3. even though there is support to show evidence for the existence of these separates stores there is a lack of clarity over the CE, some psychologists believe that the CE may also consist of different subcomponents as the model only vaguely describes it as ‘attention’, shows that it may be an unreliable component as it needs to be clearly explained, challenging the integrity of the WMM