Psychology: The Multistore Model

Question 1

What are the 3 stores in the Multistore Model?

Answer 1

• Sensory Memory
• Short-Term Memory
• Long-Term Memory

Question 2

How is information encoded/coded in sensory memory?

Answer 2

Coded: 5 senses

Question 3

What is the capacity and duration of sensory memory?

Answer 3

Capacity: very large
Duration: less than 1/2 seconds

Question 4

How is information transferred from Sensory Memory to STM?

Answer 4

Attention

Question 5

What is the Capacity and duration of STM?

Answer 5

Capacity: 7+/-2
Duration: 18-30 sec

Question 6

How is information encoded/coded in STM?

Answer 6

Coding: Acoustic - sound

Question 7

What is the Capacity and duration of LTM?

Answer 7

Capacity: vast
Duration: life time

Question 8

How is information encoded/coded in LTM?

Answer 8

Coding: Sematic - meaning

Question 9

How is information transferred between STM to LTM according to the MSM model?

Answer 9

Prolonged rehearsal

Question 10

How did Peterson and Peterson measure the duration of STM?

Answer 10

Students recall meaningless three-letter trigrams (for example OFT, NRS) at different intervals (3,6,9,12,15 or 18 seconds). To prevent rehearsal the students had to count backwards in threes or fours from a specific number, until they were asked to recall the letters.

Question 11

What were the Key finding of P & P’s research?

Answer 11

Peterson & Peterson found that the longer the interval, the less accurate the recall. At 3 seconds, around 80% of the trigrams were correctly recalled, whereas at 18 seconds only 10% were correctly recalled.

Question 12

How do the finding of Peterson and Peterson’s study support the MSM?

Answer 12

Short-term memory has a limited duration of approximately 18 seconds. Furthermore, the results show that if we are unable to rehearse information, it will not be passed to long-term memory, providing further support for the Multi-Store Model and the idea of discrete (separate) memory stores.

Question 13

Why has Peterson & Peterson’s study been criticised for lacking external validity?

Answer 13

Because it is unlikely that in real life people will have to recall random letters and numbers. Most things in day to day life that we need to remember has meaning which makes it easier to recall.

Question 14

How did Jacobs measure the capacity of STM?

Answer 14

Researcher gives 4 digits and participant recalls in correct order. If correct, increase to 5 and so on until they get it wrong.

Question 15

What were the Key findings of Jacob’s research?

Answer 15

Digit span I how many they recall correctly:
- Mean number of letters in STM 7.3
- Mean number of numbers in STM 9.3

Question 16

How do the findings of Jacob’s study support the MSM?

Answer 16

Jacob’s study backs up the idea that STM has a capacity of 7+/-2 which the MSM proposes.

Question 17

How does Miller’s research support Jacob’s study?

Answer 17

Miller wrote an article called ‘The magic number 7 plus or minus 2’. Which backs up Jacob’s research that the STM has a capacity of 7+/-2.

Question 18

How did Baddeley’s study measure coding in STM and LTM?

Answer 18

Participants had to learn and recall the lists either immediately (test of STM) or after 20 minutes (test of LMT).

Question 19

What are the Key findings of Baddeley’s research?

Answer 19

Findings immediate recall:
- The worst remembered list is acoustically (man,can) similar words because similar sounding words get confused.
Findings recall after 20 minutes:
- Worst remembered list is semantically similar (great, large) because they are confused with the similar meaning.

Question 20

How do the findings of Baddeley’s study support the MSM?

Answer 20

Shows coding in STM is acoustic and semantic in LMT therefore they must be separate stores.

Question 21

How did Bahrick’s study measure the Duration of LTM?

Answer 21

Participants were tested on their recall of:
1. Photo recognition from 50 photos from their high school yearbook
2. Free recall where participants recalled any names they could remember form their high school class
After 15 years and 48 years

Question 22

What were the Key findings of Bahrick’s research?

Answer 22

Results:
15 years after:
- 90% accuracy photo recognition
- 60% accuracy free recall

48 years after:
- 70% accuracy photo recognition
- 30% accuracy free recall

Question 23

How do the findings of Bahrick’s study support the MSM?

Answer 23

This shows that the duration of LTM is up to a lifetime supporting the MSM.

Question 24

How does the Case study of Clive Wearing support the MSM?

Answer 24

Short term memory and LTM must be separate stores as Clive Wearing can’t transfer information between them.

Question 25

Why has some of the research into the Multistore Model been crises for lacking external validity?

Answer 25

The use of artificial materials e.g. word lists / trigrams / digits - lack mundane realism. We tend to remember better by association and meaning then without meaning which random letters and numbers lack. These studies therefore may not tell us how memory works in real life situations.

Question 26

What is the problem of maintenance rehearsal in the model and why might be a better way of transferring information from STM to LTM?

Answer 26

The model says information is transferred from STM to LTM through Maintenance Rehearsal - repeating information over and over. Elaborative Rehearsal is more effective - Give it meaning. By making associations between the new information you're trying to learn and the information you already know, you're making your brain process the information in a more in-depth way. This is a limitation because model doesn't explain elaborative rehearsal.

Question 27

What is evidence that LTM memory is not a unitary (single) store as the model suggests?

Answer 27

LTM is not a Unitary store - the case of Clive Wearing challenges the model. Clive's procedural LTM was intact but his semantic and episodic memories were affected by his brain damage. Suggest that LTM must be multiple stores as if LTM was a Unitary store Clive would have no long term memories at all.

Question 28

What is the evidence that STM is not a unitary (single) store as the model suggests?

Answer 28

The case of KF challenges the model. KF damaged his STM in a motorbike accident. After the accident he had problems remembering lists of digits when they were read out to him, but he could remember them when he read them. This challenges the model as it shows we have different types of STM for visual and verbal information, it is not a single (unitary) store.