Multi-store model Flashcards
(29 cards)
What is memory in psychology?
Memory is an active system that receives, stores, organizes and recovers information, allowing us to adapt to our environment and pass on knowledge.
Why do we use models to understand memory?
Models help describe how memory might operate, by testing theories and create testable predictions, as memory processes cannot be observed directly.
What are some key memory models?
Sensory Memory, Short-Term Memory (STM), and Long-Term Memory (LTM).
Who proposed the Multi-Store Model of memory and when?
Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1971.
What are the two main assumptions of the Multi-Store Model?
Memory consists of distinct stores (Sensory, STM, LTM)
Memory processes are sequential (info flows from one store to another)
What are the three main stores in the MSM?
Sensory Memory (SM)
Short-Term Memory (STM)
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
What processes control memory in MSM?
A: Attention, encoding, and rehearsal.
What type of encoding does STM use?
Primarily acoustic (sound), even translating visual info into sound.
What are the capacity and duration of LTM?
LTM has unlimited capacity and can store information from seconds to a lifetime.
How does encoding occur in LTM?
Mainly semantic (by meaning), but also visual, acoustic, and olfactory.
Who proposed the Multi-Store Model of memory and when?
Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1971.
What are the key studies supporting MSM?
Murdock (1962): Serial Position Effect
Glanzer & Cunitz (1966): Recency and Primacy effects
What are the explanations for forgetting in STM?
Trace decay (fading of the memory trace over time) and displacement (new info pushes out old due to limited capacity).
What causes forgetting in LTM?
Interference (proactive and retroactive)
Lack of consolidation
Retrieval failure (due to missing cues)
What is proactive vs. retroactive interference?
Proactive = old info disrupts new; Retroactive = new info disrupts old.
What is the role of consolidation in LTM?
Biological process that stabilizes memory traces over ~30 minutes (Hebb, 1949); aided by sleep, disrupted by alcohol or brain injury.
What is retrieval failure and how is it resolved?
Info is stored but inaccessible due to lack of cues. Context (environment) or state (mood) cues can trigger recall.
What are limitations of the Multi-Store Model?
Overly simplistic; assumes unitary stores
Doesn’t explain multi-tasking
Doesn’t account for incidental learning
Assumes rehearsal is always necessary for LTM
What evidence challenges MSM’s idea of unitary stores?
De Groot (1966): Chess experts had better STM when pieces were meaningful, showing interaction between STM and LTM.
How does Tulving (1972) critique MSM?
LTM isn’t a single store—distinguished between episodic and semantic memory.
What are the strengths of MSM?
Provides a simple framework
Supported by lab studies
Highlights key differences between memory stores (capacity, duration, encoding)
What method did Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) use?
A controlled laboratory experiment.
What was the aim of Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)?
To investigate the existence of separate short-term and long-term memory stores using the serial position effect.
Describe the procedure of Glanzer and Cunitz (1966).
Participants (US Army) were given a list of 15 words to memorise. One condition to recall the words immediately. Another group recalled the words after a 30-second delay with a distractor task to avoid rehearsal.
