Describe and evaluate the Multi-store Model of memory.

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Mos Albayaty – LKP

 Psychology - IGB

THE MULIT-STORE MODEL OF MEMEORY

Question:  Describe and evaluate the Multi-store Model of memory.

The multi-store model of memory was the idea of Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968/71.

Atkinson and Shiffrin suggested that memory was compromised of three separate stores – the Sensory Memory store, the Short-term Memory (STM) store, and the Long-term Memory (LTM) store.  They presented a diagram to show this.

According to this model, memory is characterised as a flow of information through a system.  The system is divided into a set of stages, and information passes through each stage in a fixed sequence.  There are capacity and duration limitations at each stage and transfer between stages may require recoding.

When a stimulus impinges our senses (such as reading these words, which are of course, received by the eyes) it goes through the Sensory Store, passing onto the STM store, and then possibly onto the LTM store.  This is the order.  Much of this information will be lost en route.

To recall the information, such as what you have just read, it is needed to pass back from the LTM, to the STM (in reverse order).

The Sensory Memory holds information for a very short time.  It takes rapidly passing impressions of light, sound, smell etc. and preserves them just long enough for them to be recognised.  It is the attention system.  Any information, which we pay attention to, is selected, and is then processed further into the STM.  All other information is disregarded at this moment.

The STM contains only the small amount of information that is actually in active use at any one time.  Verbal information is encoded at this stage in terms of its sounds.  Atkinson and Shiffrin believed that memory traces in STM are fragile and can be lost within about 30 seconds unless rehearsed/ repeated.  Information here can also be lost through displacement, due to the duration.

Material that is rehearsed is passed onto the LTM store where it can remain for a lifetime, although loss is possible from this store through decay or interference.

In order to recall information, it must be ‘retrieved’ from the LTM to the STM.  This information needs to be re-lived in the STM before it is released through action/ speech.

Forgetting in LTM can occur due to retrieval failure.

There are many positive and negative criticisms of the multi-store model of memory.

There is a lot of evidence for the multi-store model.

The Primary-Recency Effect, was conducted by Atkinson, 1970.  In this experiment, participants were presented with lists to remember.  Results show best recall was the first and last items – the first items rehearsed into the LTM and the last items recalled from the STM.  The ones in the middle were less likely to be recalled.  This shows evidence for existence of several stores, including a STM and a LTM.

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Similarly, the Brown and Peterson technique suggests that if rehearsal of items is prevented (using a distracter task), then information does not enter the LTM.

Other evidence in support of the distinction between STM and LTM, and that they exist, comes from the case studies of people with brain damage, which gives rise to memory impairment.  Milner, 1966, reported on a young man, referred to as HM, who was left with severe memory impairment after brain surgery.  He was able to talk normally and to recall accurately events of people from his life before surgery, and his immediate digit ...

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*3 - Summary: varying degrees of appropriateness - some good description and evaluation of relevant theories and research. Some evidence of use of one text book to answer the question which leads to some material being not particularly relevant or not being used effectively, for example a list of types of memory. Improvement could be had by planning essay first. The better parts of the essay show evidence of thoughtful consideration of the topic.