Multi-Store Model Flashcards

Question

Why was prolonged recall worse with semantically similar words?

Answer 1

LTM causing semantic confusion and becoming distracted by meaning of words thus not recalling in order

Answer 2

* showed differences between stores. * Later research showed that there are some exceptions to Baddeley's findings, e.g. types of coding. * However, the idea that STM uses mostly acoustic coding and LTM mostly semantic has stood the test of time. * This was an important step our understanding of the memory system, which led to the creation of the MSM.

Answer 3

* A strength of Baddeley's study is that there is a high degree of control over extraneous variables. * This allows us to see clearly that the IV (coding: semantic or acoustic) was what affected the DV (recall), improving the validity of results - This also means the experiment can be easily replicated

Answer 4

LAB EXPERIMENT using a dual task paradigm. - participants engaged in separate visuo-spatial sketch pad tasks - tracking a moving point of light and mentally navigating a capital 'F.'

Answer 5

LAB EXPERIMENT * Used a digit span - researcher read four digits and increased until the participant could not recall the order correctly immediately.

Answer 6

* Participants found it harder to complete two visual tasks at the same time than to complete the visual and verbal task. * The greater difficulty is because both visual tasks compete for the same limited resources, but when doing a verbal and visual task simultaneously, there is no competition.

Answer 7

* Digits = 9.3 * Letters = 7.3

Answer 8

* Older studies often lacked adequate controls, e.g. , some participants' digit spans might have been underestimated because they were distracted during testing (confounding variable). * However, Jacob's findings have been confirmed and validated by other, better controlled studies since. * This suggests that Jacob's study has 'stood the test of time' and is a valid test of digit span in STM.

Answer 9

* made observations and noted that the span of immediate memory is about 7 items. * For example, he noted that people can count 7 dots flashed on a screen but not many more. The same is true if you ask people to recall musical notes, words or even letters.

Answer 10

- STM span is approximately 7 items (plus or minus 2). recall improves with chunking - organizing data into meaningful groups. Example: Transforming BBCCAITVAARAC into BBC, CA, ITV, AA, RAC, which occupies only 5 memory slots.

Answer 11

* A strength of research into the capacity of STM is that it has many practical applications. * Research into chunking laid the foundations for the postcode system we use in the UK today. * Baddeley discovered that if the initial letters of a postcode made up something meaningful (e.g. BS for Bristol) it made it easier to remember. * This shows how research into the capacity of STM has helped improve the efficiency of memory in a real life situation.

Answer 12

LABORATORY EXPERIMENT * Sample of 24 undergrad students. * Peterson and Peterson gave participants 'nonsense trigrams' (for example CKX), which they had to recall after a retention interval of varying amounts of time from 0-18 seconds. * On presentation of each trigram, they were required to verbally count backwards in threes from a specified number to prevent participants rehearsal

Answer 13

* After 3 seconds, 80% recalled correctly. * After 18 seconds, fewer than 10% of trigrams were recalled.

Answer 14

* Rehearsal got progressively worse as the delay grew longer. * This suggests that the duration of STM is approximately 18 (to 30) seconds if rehearsal is prevented.

Answer 15

* A limitation of Peterson and Peterson's study is the artificial stimulus. * Recalling trigrams does not reflect most everyday memory activities where what we are trying to remember is meaningful. * On the other hand, we do sometimes try to remember fairly meaningless things, such as phone numbers, so the study is not totally irrelevant. * This means the study lacked ecological validity as it may not be possible to generalise findings to real-life.

Answer 16

FIELD EXPERIMENT to explore memory retention, graduates aged 17 to 74 from an American high school. Tasks: Photo recognition: participants selected former classmates from 50 graduation photos Free recall: Participants named classmates without visual aids.

Answer 17

(1) Photo recognition task: - 90% accuracy if graduated within 15 years - 70% accuracy if graduated within 48 years (2) Free recall task: - 60% accuracy if graduated within 15 years - 30% accuracy if graduated within 48 years

Answer 18

LTM can potentially last for years, if not a life time (shown particularly in photo recognition task)

Answer 19

* One strength of Bahrick's study is that it is a field experiment so is higher in external (ecological) validity than other memory studies. * Also, real life memories were studied (i.e. people's names and faces), thus the behaviour shown is more valid and authentic than other research which conducted with meaningless pictures or words in laboratory experiments, where recall rates were lower. * This suggests that Bahrick et al's study reflects a more 'real' estimate of the duration of LTM (high external validity).

Answer 20

* A downside of real life research (field experiments) is that confounding variables are not controlled, thus making it harder to conclude that the DV was only affected by the IV. * Participants may have spent further time with certain classmates / stayed in touch. * This would make recollection a lot easier as time frame since a last interaction would be reduced, reducing the validity of results gathered.

Answer 21

linear model illustrating the information flow through three memory stores (sensory store -> STM -> LTM)

Answer 22

* P: Research support for the idea of LTM and STM being different and separate stores provided by Baddeley (1966) * E: In his study on coding, he gave participants one of four lists of words to remember and found that acoustically similar words were harder to recall immediately and semantically similar words were harder to recall after 20 minutes. * E: It was concluded that acoustic confusion was occurring in STM, and semantic confusion in LTM, suggesting STM codes acoustically and LTM semantically * L: This shows that the two types of memory are different from one another, as MSM suggests.

Answer 23

P: A limitation, despite such apparent support, is that the research studies supporting the MSM use artificial materials. * E/E: In everyday life, we form memories related to all sorts of useful things(people's faces, names etc). However, many of the supporting studies for MSM didn't use these realistic materials, but rather digits, letters and sometimes words which hold no meaning. * L: This suggests that the MSM lacks external validity. Research findings may reflect how memory works with meaningless material in a lab setting, but MSM may not be an accurate/valid model of how memory works in our everyday lives, where we have to remember much more meaningful information.

Answer 24

P: A limitation of the Multi-store model (MSM) is its assertion that Short-Term Memory (STM) is a singular store, contrary to evidence indicating multiple types of STM. E: Shallice and Warrington's (1970) study of KF, an amnesic patient, revealed poor STM for verbally presented digits but improved recall when digits were self-read visually. A: This is a weakness because it suggests distinct STM stores for visual and verbal information. L: The finding challenges the MSM's unitary STM concept, highlighting the need for a model like the Working Memory Model, which incorporates separate stores like the phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad.

Answer 25

P: One limitation of the Multi-store model (MSM) is that it exclusively focuses on one rehearsal type. E: Craik and Watkins argued that the critical factor for memory retention is the type of rehearsal, not the quantity. They identified 2 types of rehearsal: Maintenance rehearsal (verbal repetition): Keeps information in Short-Term Memory (STM). Elaborative rehearsal: Essential for long-term storage, involving linking information to existing knowledge or considering its meaning. A: This is a weakness because it highlights that the MSM fails to incorporate research findings emphasizing the pivotal role of rehearsal type in memory mechanisms. L: As a result, this lower the explanatory power of the MSM.

Answer 26

The critical factor for memory retention is the type of rehearsal, not the quantity. Two types of rehearsal: Maintenance rehearsal (verbal repetition): Keeps information in Short-Term Memory (STM). Elaborative rehearsal: Essential for long-term storage, involving linking information to existing knowledge or considering its meaning.

Answer 27

Multi-store model criticized for treating LTM as a single vast store with no distinctions. Tulving (1986) proposes multiple types of LTM, each linked to different functions and associated with different brain areas. categories: episodic, semantic, procedural.

Answer 28

- LTM for memories of life events, e.g storing events such as birthdays and recent dentist visits. declarative -> can be expressed verbally, involving 'knowing that' something is true, available for conscious inspection -> requires conscious thought and effort to consciously inspect, time stamped -> stored with reference to time, place, people, objects, and associated emotions.

Answer 29

LTM for factual and general knowledge about the world. e.g capital cities and the meaning of words and concepts declarative -> can be expressed verbally, involving 'knowing that' something is true. available for conscious inspection -> recalling semantic memories is deliberate and requires conscious thought not time stamped -> knowledge is recalled without remembering when or where it was learned

Answer 30

LTM for motor skills and learned actions. e.g tying a shoe-lace or playing the piano. non-declarative knowledge -> cannot necessarily be expressed verbally, focused on 'knowing how' to do things. not open for conscious inspection -> typically recalled without conscious effort. not time stamped -> knowledge is recalled without remembering when or where it was learned - acquired through repetition and practice, becoming automatic skills and habits.

Answer 31

aim - examine brain activity during semantic and episodic memory retrieval - six volunteers received radioactive gold injection (scanned using a gamma ray detector to detect its location.) - pps thought about 4 semantic topics - involving general knowledge and 4 episodic topics (involving personally experienced events) - involved pps thinking about a topic, gold injection after 60 seconds, and scanning 8 seconds later

Answer 32

semantic memories -> left prefrontal cortex episodic memories -> right prefrontal cortex

Answer 33

* episodic and semantic LTMs appear to involve different brain areas and thus are separate forms of LTM, * The fact that episodic and semantic LTMs involve different brain areas suggests a biological basis to differences in LTM.

Answer 34

P: A strength of episodic memory is that it is supported by case study evidence, such as the clinical cases study of HM. E: HM had brain surgery at 27 to alleviate epilepsy, resulting in hippocampus removal and severe amnesia - demonstrated intact procedural memory by learning and retaining mirror drawing skills despite no conscious recollection of the task - episodic memory impaired as he could not recall events that had happened to him A: This is a strength because it highlights a dissociation between intact procedural memory and impaired episodic memory, showing that there are different long-term memory stores, not only different in functionality but also location within the brain. L: As a result, this increases the explanatory power of Tulving's theory.

Answer 35

P: one strength of Tulving's research is that it has practical applications for psychologists. E: For example, research demonstrates the potential improvement of episodic memories in older individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Comparison of a trained group with episodic memory training to a control group without training showed a significant performance boost in the trained group. L: Highlights the advantage of distinguishing between LTM types for the development of specific and effective memory-enhancing treatments.

Answer 36

- HM had brain surgery at 27 to alleviate epilepsy, resulting in hippocampus removal and severe amnesia, - demonstrated intact procedural memory by learning and retaining mirror drawing skills despite no conscious recollection of the task, - episodic memory impaired as he could not recall events that had happened to him, Highlighted a dissociation between intact procedural memory and impaired episodic memory.