multi store explanation of memory

multi store explanation of memory

1. this theory states that memory has more than one store, it has 3

   • sensory
   • short term
   • long term

2. study- Peterson and peterson

   • AIM- to see if rehearsal was necessary to hold information in the short term store.// METHOD- participants were given a set of 3 letters to remember and the were asked to count back in 3 out loud for different lengths of time to stop rehearsal after they were asked to recall the letters.// RESULTS- participant had forgotten almost all the information after 18 seconds.// CONCLUSION- we can not hold information in the short term memory without rehearsal.

3. characteristics of each store

   • sensory store's duration- less than 1 second and the capacity is - very limited
   • short term memory has a duration of less than a minute and a capacity of seven chunks of information
   • long term memory has a duration of a life time and an unlimited capacity

4. evaluation and practical applications

   • evaluation- it is not realistic because in an everyday situation you do not have to remember random letters so it lacks ecological validity . also not every thing we learn has to be rehearsed. however it does explain why it is difficult to remember licence plates and mobile numbers
   • practical applications- car registration plates never exceed 7 letters/numbers this way we still have a chance of remembering them

5. flow of information in the multi store

   • information arrives using our senses and is held in the sensory store but it will only stay here for a matter of seconds.
     • the information is then passed on to our short term memory ( through rehearsal) which has a small capacity that allows us to hold up to 7 bits/chunks of information for about a minute. however new information will push out the old information.
       • the last sotre is called the long term store and experiments have shown us that information can stay here for life and that it has a very large capacity.