Multistore Of Memory Flashcards
What is the multi-store model?
Representation of how memory works in terms of 3 memory stores:
* The sensory register
* Short term memory
* Long term memory
Describes how information is transferred from one store to another and the factors influencing memory retention.
What is maintenance rehearsal?
Repeat or review information over and over again to remember it.
It is essential for transferring information into long-term memory.
Who came up with multistore memory?
Atkinson and Shiffrin
How does information pass through the multi stores?
- Environmental input to sensory register
- From sensory register to STM thru attention
- STM to LTM thru maintenance rehearsal
- LTM back to STM thru retrieval
This is known as the rehearsal loop and it leads to recall
What does environmental input consist of?
5 senses: taste, hear, see, touch, smell
What does the sensory register consist of?
Stimuli enters sensory register
- consists of several stores
Iconic (what you see) information = visually coded
Echoic (what you hear) information = acoustically coded
- other sensory stores: taste, smell, touch
What is the capacity and duration of sensory register?
High capacity and a very short duration of 0.5 seconds
What are the features of STM?
Information coded acoustically with only one store according to this model
What is the capacity and duration of short-term memory?
Limited capacity between 5 - 9 items and short duration between 18 - 30 seconds unless rehearsed.
How is information coded in long-term memory?
Semantically
LTM has unlimited capacity and potentially permanent duration thru prolonged rehearsal (according to bahrick et al)
What was the condition of Patient HM?
Condition: Epilepsy
* Part of brain removed: Hippocampus
* Part of brain affected: LTM
* Could not form new long-term memories
* Intact STM
Demonstrated the separation of short-term and long-term memory.
What is a strength of MSM in relation to seperate stores?
Research supports STM and LTM as separate stores as Glanzer and Cunitz argue in their study, words at the start of the list stored in LTM (primacy effect), words in the middle displaced from STM but not yet stored in LTM, words at the end still in STM.
Presented a distracted task to prevent rehearsal in which info in STM easily disrupted while LTM not affected
What does the primacy effect refer to?
Tendency to remember items presented at beginning of a list better than those in the middle
What’s another strength of MSM relating to coding of STM and LTM?
Research supports STM (acoustically) and LTM (semantically) coded differently
Baddeley argues mix up similar sounding words using STM, mix up words with similar meanings using LTM
What’s another strength related to brain damaged patients?
Supports by studies of brain-damaged patients as patients with amnesia had very poor LTM but normal or almost normal STM
Difficulty remembering start and middle of list (involves LTM) yet can remember the last parts of the list that uses STM
What’s a limitation of MSM related to different stores?
If sensory register has different stores, STM should have different stores aswell to store different formats of info
Amnesia studies suggest a separate store for non verbal sounds - Patient K.F (Shallice and Warrington)
What did Patient K.F. demonstrate about short-term memory?
K.F. had poor short-term memory for digits read aloud but better memory for rehearsing digits himself.
suggests the existence of separate short-term stores for external and internal information.
What’s another limitation of MSM relating to rehearsal?
Jenkins argues maintenance rehearsal doesnt seem necessary for store and found participants could remember material without expecting to be tested on it
What’s another limitation of MSM relating to oversimplification?
Oversimplifies LTM, improbable all knowledge stored within single LTM store. Logie believes access to LTM occurs before information processed in STM for example info on how words are processed.
What limitation did Morris highlight?
Doesnt really consider overall functions of memory for the individuals
Simultaneously take in more than 7 items during conversation and do it quite successfully
What is the relationship between rehearsal and memory retention?
More rehearsal increases the likelihood of information being transferred to long-term memory.
Craik and Watkins (1973) suggest that the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount.
What is elaborative rehearsal?
Linking information to existing knowledge to enhance memory retention.
It is more effective for transferring information into long-term memory compared to maintenance rehearsal.
