Multi Store Model Flashcards
AO1 and AO3 (5 cards)
Overview of the study
One key assumption that early psychologist made way that the human brain is like a computer.They suggested that like a computer, information is processed stored and retrieved.
Instead, when we unconsciously or deliberately choose to encode and store sensory information, it needs encoding. This process turns the sensory input into an electrochemical memory trace that can be stored In the brain. Once encoded human memory has no conscious control over how long it will last. For example some memories last forever.
AO1 for the MSM
Sensory information from the environment is passed into the sensory register. The sensory Register codes visual and auditory information. has a duration of 1/2 a second, and has an unlimited capacity.
If paid attention to the information passes into the short term memory store, if not information will decay. The short term memory store: Encodes acoustically and has a duration of approximately 30 seconds and has a capacity of 7+/- items. Information is retrieved sequentially. In order for information to to stay in STM a rehearsal loop is required, if storages reaches full capacity information will be displaced- otherwise will be consolidated into the long term memory store.
The long term memory store: encodes semantically, duration of anything over 30 seconds (possibly unlimited) capacity unlimited and is retrieved by recall and recognition. If information is not retrieved from the ltm it will decay or have interference (concise of muddle information)
Evaluate MSM in terms of supporting evidence
(+) Evidence to support the distinction between STM and LTM from case studies and experimental evidence: HM had his hippocampus removed. He then suffered from retrograde amnesia. HM could keep information in stm as long as he rehearsed it however he suffered from severe anterograde amnesia and could not make new memories. This case study demonstrates that stem and ltm are located in different regions of the Brain, not only this but it showed that the hippocampus has an important role to play in memory.
CA: However, the subjects of case studies are unique and the nature of the brain injury sustained by the subject are equally as unique. This means that we cannot generalise this distinction based on individual cases.
(+) Compelling evidence fro the existence of separate STM and LTM stores, comes from the serial position effect or the primacy recency effect. For example Glanzer and cunitz (1966) found that word position affected recall, with words at the start and end of the list being recalled more easily. This aligns with the multi-store model, which proposes that information moves from STM to LTM through rehearsal and that they are two separate memory systems.
Evaluate MSM in terms of criticisms
(-) P The Multi-Store Model (MSM) does not fully explain why some information is remembered without rehearsal or why rehearsed information can still be forgotten.
E- For example, flashbulb memories can be recalled without deliberate rehearsal, suggesting that factors like emotional impact play a role in memory retention.
E- This suggests that the MSM may be overly simplistic, as it assumes a direct relationship between rehearsal and memory retention. Other factors, such as emotional significance influencing memory storage and retrieval.
Evaluate MSM in terms of: How good is the research
(-) The MSM assumes that short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) are completely separate stores, but research suggests a more complex relationship between them.
KF, had brain damage that severely impaired his short-term memory for verbal information but not for visual information. According to the MSM, if STM is damaged, LTM should also be affected since information must pass through STM first. However, KF’s LTM remained intact, suggesting that STM and LTM are not entirely dependent on each other.
This contradicts the MSM’s linear structure, implying that memory is more flexible than the model suggests.
